{"id":2751,"date":"2018-01-26T16:02:21","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T07:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/how-to-get-a-phone-number-in-japan\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T02:35:11","slug":"how-to-get-a-phone-number-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/how-to-get-a-phone-number-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get a Phone Number in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Usually the minute you land in another country, you can head over to the nearest mobile phone kiosk or even convenience store in the airport and score a prepaid SIM to pop in your phone that will give you a phone number to be contacted through while visiting. However, thanks to one of Japan\u2019s more arcane telcom laws from the last century, visitors to the country cannot have access to any permanently connected voice phone lines.<\/q> In other words, unless you are a citizen or maintain a long-term visa, you can\u2019t obtain traditional<\/em> voice service on your cellphone. Don\u2019t worry thought; we\u2019re going to use 21st century methods to get around this old 20th century technicality.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still a need for the traditional phone number, even in this age of instant messaging and email; business between strangers is usually conducted through telephone conversations, and doesn\u2019t require the knowledge of what network is connecting the other end; it\u2019s universal, thereby necessary in many cases to have.<\/p>\n

Data isn\u2019t restricted<\/h3>\n

You can still pick up a prepaid SIM card almost anywhere electronics are sold; online, at airports and even vending machines<\/a>. However it will be a data-only card, and the phone number attached is just to provide access to the network. If you visit the shops and see prepaid voice SIMs, do know that the sales people will then ask to see your Japanese ID card to verify identity. Don\u2019t worry though; this is more than enough for the next steps. Usually SMS service is included using the given number to send and receive text messages as well; do make sure SMS is included in your service as a text message will be needed to verify things in our next steps.<\/p>\n

Welcome to VoIP Land!<\/h3>\n

With our data connection we can use Voice over IP technology\u2014 the tech behind the power to use the open internet as a telephone system. If you are fairly technical there are ways to even use a device<\/a> or your PC<\/a> to enable your home phone to connect to the service. For our purposes, we\u2019ll just stick to using apps on our smartphone to get us up and running.<\/p>\n

We need a provider and luckily there are many to choose from. Take a trip into Google Play or Apple\u2019s App Store and simply type 050 Japan<\/q> and you\u2019ll probably see dozens. 050<\/q> is the number code that all VoIP communications receive, and when you sign up for one of these services, you\u2019ll get a number in this range that will look like 050-XXXX-XXXX<\/q>.<\/p>\n

A good example of this type of service is NTT\u2019s 050 Plus<\/a> or Brastel\u2019s My 050<\/a>. Simply sign up with a credit card, download their app and use. One other thing: incoming calls in Japan are free to take, so if you simply need a local number to be contacted on, you\u2019re good. If you want to place phone calls to local numbers, you\u2019re also OK but make sure you do some comparative shopping to see which one of these services offer the best deals.<\/p>\n

If you really want to make things dead simple, Skype is still there. The Microsoft owned messaging app has been around for years and still offers some of the best deals for getting a local number in different countries. If you already use Skype in some capacity, you should check out their Skype Local Number<\/a> and Skype Out services to see if it fits your needs. Here in Japan, you\u2019ll get a 050 just as in the other examples, so the same rules and limitations apply as well.<\/p>\n

Do I really need a local number?<\/h3>\n

To be fair, you really truly only need a local number for things like filling out official residence and leasing forms, applying for a bank account and so on. I personally keep a 050 number for business contacts to call me on and to give out in an official manner. For 95% of everything else, I use instant messaging apps to talk to pretty much everyone, including workmates.<\/p>\n

Check for those blue bubbles!<\/h4>\n

Japan has one of the highest smartphone users per capita metrics in the world, and the overwhelming majority of them choose to use Apple\u2019s rig, the venerable iPhone. Every iPhone user has Apple\u2019s messaging apps, iMessage and FaceTime built in by default. If you are in Apple\u2019s ecosystem, this means you can simply input your Japanese contact\u2019s number or email address into the phone book on your Apple device and check if you get the FaceTime and iMessage section to light up. If you do, then you can simply give them a call or text them without incurring anything more than internet data charges; and they can connect with you just by using your regular phone number. You may need to teach your Japanese counterparts how to use FaceTime and iMessage though; This is LINE country after all\u2026<\/p>\n

Can you drop me a LINE?<\/h4>\n

Japan\u2019s swiss army knife app, LINE<\/a> is single-handedly the #1 app used on smartphones by far here. When doing business these days, it\u2019s not uncommon to be exchanging business cards, then LINE contact QR codes. Of course, LINE offers in-app VoIP and video conferencing like most other messaging apps, and there\u2019s no faux pas in telling your new Japan contacts to contact you via the app. Some businesses also use LINE to communicate to their clients, customers, and internally too. LINE is also available for every mobile phone and PC OS so there\u2019s no lock-in here. LINE is the messaging app that started the whole sticker craze, and now it can do anything from call a taxi to order food and clothing, so don\u2019t be surprised if you find yourself using it more than you thought.<\/p>\n

Of course, these methods are by no means exhaustive so if you have a tip you\u2019d like to share with us, tell us in the comments section below!<\/p>\n

By Jason L. Gatewood<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Image: “phone<\/a>”\u00a0(CC BY 2.0<\/a>)\u00a0by\u00a0raindog808<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Usually the minute you land in another country, you can head over to the nearest mobile phone kiosk or even convenience store in the airport and score a prepaid SIM to pop in your phone that will give you a phone number to be contacted through while visiting. However, thanks to one of Japan\u2019s more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,59],"tags":[62],"class_list":["post-2751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japan","category-life-in-japan","tag-login"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2751"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49389,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions\/49389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}