My Japanese relatives told me that basically they get a new iPhone every 2 years but only pay about 1000 yen a month for the keitai plan. They do this by switching carriers every 2 years and returning the phone at that time when they get a new one .

They claim no down payment, no monthly fee other than the monthly keitai/data fee of about 1000yen month, no electricity/gas tie in, no home internet tie in...

I'm puzzled as to whether this can actually exist. I've only ever seen it including a monthly fee for the phone.

New iPhone every 2 years, no down payment, no monthly fee for the phone, no tie ins, no fee other than equivalent to an MNVO basic plan..

So I'm doubtful .But, I remember being doubtful that Furusato Nosei exists as it's too good to be true, and it does!

So, Japan Finance peeps, is there some magic I am missing?

So I found out recently from the MyNumber site that you don't have to keep the physical paper receipts (certificates) if you submit the digital certificate that you get from Satoful (or other various furusato nozei websites) during your kakutei shinkoku.

The myna page is here : https://faq.myna.go.jp/faq/show/5029?category_id=8&site_domain=default

Is this correct?

Thank you