Call Japan

Whether your best friend lives in Japan, you want the secret to the best sushi possible, or you simply want to call a business in Japan, you will need to know how to place an international call. Follow these steps to learn how to place an international call to Japan.

Steps

Gathering the Necessary Numbers

  1. Find your country’s international exit code. To place an international phone call, you will need to dial your country’s exit code--the number that tells your phone service that you will be calling outside the country. If you were to place an international call from the United States, your exit code would be 011, while if calling from Argentina, you would dial 00 to call internationally.[1]
    • To find out what your country’s exit code is, simply run a search on your favorite internet search engine. Type in a phrase like “[The name of your country] exit code.”
  2. Find out what the code is of the country you are trying to reach. In this case, the country is Japan. Japan’s country code is 81.[2]
  3. Find out what the area code is of the region in Japan you are trying to call. The area codes in Japan can range from one to five digits in length, depending on the area you are trying to reach.
    • The area codes are as follows:
      • Akita 18
      • Himeji 79
      • Matsudo 47
      • Takatsuki 72
      • Hirakata 72
      • Matsuyama 89
      • Tokorozawa 4
      • Hiroshima 82
      • Miyazaki 985
      • Tokyo 3
      • Ichikawa 47
      • Nagano 26
      • Toyama 76
      • Ichinomiya 586
      • Nagasaki 95
      • Toyohashi 532
      • Iwaki 246
      • Nagoya 52
      • Toyonaka 6
      • Kagoshima 99
      • Naha 98
      • Toyota 565
      • Kanazawa 76
      • Nara 742
      • Utsunomiya 28
      • Kashiwa 4
      • Niigata 25
      • Wakayama 73
      • Kasugai 568
      • Nishinomiya 798
      • Yokkaichi 59
      • Kawagoe 49
      • Oita 97
      • Yokohama 45
      • Kawaguchi 48
      • Okayama 86
      • Yokosuka 46
      • Kawasaki 44
      • Okazaki 564
      • Amagasaki 6
      • Kitakyushu 93
      • Osaka 6
      • Asahikawa 166
      • Kobe 78
      • Otsu 77
      • Chiba 43
      • Kochi 88
      • Sagamihara 42
      • Fujisawa 466
      • Kofu 55
      • Saitama 48
      • Fukuoka 92
      • Koriyama 24
      • Sakai 72
      • Fukuyama 84
      • Kumamoto 96
      • Sapporo 11
      • Funabashi 47
      • Koshigaya 48
      • Sendai 22
      • Gifu 58
      • Kurashiki 86
      • Shizuoka 54
      • Hachioji 42
      • Kyoto 75
      • Suita 6
      • Hamamatsu 53
      • Machida 42
      • Takamatsu 87
      • Higashiosaka 6
      • Maebashi 27
      • Takasaki 27
      • Himeji 79
      • Matsudo 47
      • Takatsuki 72
      • Hirakata 72
      • Matsuyama 89
      • Tokorozawa 4
      • Hiroshima 82
      • Miyazaki 985
      • Tokyo 3
      • Ichikawa 47
      • Nagano 26
      • Toyama 76
      • Ichinomiya 586
      • Nagasaki 95
      • Toyohashi 532
      • Iwaki 246
      • Nagoya 52
      • Toyonaka 6
      • Kagoshima 99
      • Naha 98
      • Toyota 565
      • Kanazawa 76
      • Nara 742
      • Utsunomiya 28
      • Kashiwa 4
      • Niigata 25
      • Wakayama 73
      • Kasugai 568
      • Nishinomiya 798
      • Yokkaichi 59
      • Kawagoe 49
      • Oita 97
      • Yokohama 45
      • Kawaguchi 48
      • Okayama 86
      • Yokosuka 46
  4. Know what the local phone number you are trying to reach is. This is the number of the person, business, or cell phone that you are trying to reach. Phone numbers are generally nine digits long, including the area code. For example, if you were calling Fukuyama, the whole phone number would be (84)-XXX-XXXX.[3]
    • If you are trying to reach a cell phone in Japan, you would dial 90 after the country code and before the area code. For example, to call a cell phone in Fukuyama from the United States, you would dial 011-81-90-XXXX-XXXX.[4]

Making the Call

  1. Know what time it is in Japan. It is important to remember that it is most likely not the same time in Japan as it is in the place you are making the call from. Japan’s time zone is Japan Standard Time, which is nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.[5]
    • Keep in mind that you may be charged for your international call even if no one picks up on the other end. This should serve as an incentive to make sure that you are calling the person you are trying to reach in Japan at a time that he or she will actually be awake.
  2. Place your call and dial the full international number. To demonstrate, let us say that you are trying to call your friend who lives Fukuyama, Japan and you live in San Francisco, CA, USA. You would dial:
    • The United States exit code: 011
    • Then the country code for Japan: 81
    • Then the area code for Fukuyama: 84
    • Then the seven digit local phone number: XXX-XXXX
    • The full number would be 011-81-84-XXX-XXXX.
  3. If someone answers by saying “もしもし” (Moshimoshi), congratulations! You have successfully called Japan.

Tips

  • Direct-dialing international calls is expensive in all countries. Options for saving money include: International calling cards, signing up for a discount international-calling program with a phone provider, voice-over-Internet programs like Skype, or callback services.
  • Remember to always drop the leading 0 before calling in to Japan from abroad. So even though all Japanese landline numbers have 10 digits and all Japanese mobile numbers have 11 digits, you might still dial only 9 or 10 digits, after exit and country codes, to make the actual call.

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Sources and Citations