Telephone numbers in Japan

Country Code: 81

[+] Dialing prefixes

 0 National area code prefix
 00 Carrier selection prefix
 010 International call prefix
 184 Prefix to withhold caller ID
 186 Prefix to provide caller ID

[+] Types of numbers

 1xx Special numbers
 00xx Carrier selection codes
 0x 1-digit geographic area codes
 0xx 2-digit geographic area codes
 0xxx 3-digit geographic area codes
 0xxxx 4-digit geographic area codes
 0xxxxx 5-digit geographic area codes
 0x0 2-digit non-Geographic area codes (excluding 010)
 0xx0 3-digit non-Geographic area codes (01x0, 0570, 0800, 0910, 0990)

Note that, for international calls to Japan, the first "0" digit should not be used. So, for example, to call 090 1111 1111 from the United States, 011-81-90-1111-1111 should be used. To call from Europe use 00-81-90-1111-1111.

[+] Length of numbers

 Special numbers are 3 digits long
 Geographic numbers are 10 digits long, including the leading zero
 0x0 Non-geographic numbers are 11 digits long, including the leading zero
 0xx0 Non-geographic numbers are 10 digits long, including the leading zero

[+] Emergency services

 110 Police
 118 Maritime emergencies
 119 Ambulance, Fire brigade
 171 Earthquake assistance

[+] Operator services

 100 NTT operator
 106 Operator assisted collect call service
 108 Automated collect call service
 113 NTT technical faults hotline
 116 NTT customer service and general enquiries

[+] Directory services

 104 NTT national directory enquiries
 0057 KDDI international directory enquiries

[+] Special services

 114 Automated number-busy check
 115 Telegram service
 117 Speaking clock
 136 Information on last incoming call
 177 Weather forecast

[+] Long distance carrier selection (Myline)

With the exception of 001, all carrier selection codes are four digits long. They are dialed before the phone number to select a specific carrier.

 001 KDDI (international)
 0033 NTT Communications
 0036 NTT East
 0037 Fusion Communications
 0039 NTT West
 0041 SoftBank Telecom (international / former Japan Telecom)
 0056 KDDI (international)
 0061 SoftBank Telecom (international / former Cable and Wireless IDC)
 0071 Verizon Japan
 0077 KDDI (national)
 0080 T-Systems
 0081 Fusion Communications (former TTNet)
 0088 SoftBank Telecom (national / former Japan Telecom)
 0089 T-Systems

[+] Non-geographic area codes

 0120 NTT Freedial, tollfree services
 0130 Automated information services
 0140 Disaster relief wireless communications
 0160 Disaster relief satellite communications
 0170 NTT Dengon Dial, chat line services
 0180 NTT Telegong, TV/Radio show feedback dial-in
 0180 NTT Teledome, automated information services
 0190 NTT Angel Line, automated directory services via PC/modem
 0190 NTT Annai Jozu, automated directory services via telephone
 0800 Other tollfree services
 020 Paging services
 030 Mobile telephony services (legacy systems, PDC, J-CDMA, UMTS)
 040 Mobile telephony services (legacy systems, PDC, J-CDMA, UMTS)
 050 IP telephony service (via internet service providers)
 0570 Navi Dial, non-geographic wireline
 060 Universal personal number services
 070 Mobile telephony and data services (PHS)
 080 Mobile telephony and data services (PDC, J-CDMA, UMTS)
 090 Mobile telephony and data services (PDC, J-CDMA, UMTS)
 0910 Private circuit access, local rate services
 0990 NTT DialQ2, premium rate services

[+] Decommissioned area codes

 0150 formerly used for maritime wireless communications
 0450 formerly used for maritime wireless communications
 0750 formerly used for maritime wireless communications

[+] Area codes (市外局番 "shigai-kyokuban") of selected major cities

 011 Sapporo
 0138 Hakodate
 0166 Asahikawa
 017 (next digit 7) Aomori
 018 (next digit 8) Akita
 019 (next digit 6) Morioka
 022 Sendai
 023 (next digit 6) Yamagata
 024 (next digit 5) Fukushima
 024 (next digit 9) Kōriyama
 025 Niigata 
 026 Nagano
 027 (next digit 2) Maebashi
 027 (next digit 3) Takasaki
 028 (next digit 6) Utsunomiya
 03 Tokyo
 04 (next digit 2) Tokorozawa
 04 (next digit 7) Kashiwa
 042 (next digit 6) Hachiōji
 042 (next digit 7) Machida, Sagamihara
 043 (next digit 2 or 3) Chiba
 044 Kawasaki
 045 Yokohama
 046 (next digit 6) Fujisawa
 046 (next digit 8) Yokosuka
 047 (next digit 3) Ichikawa, Matsudo
 047 (next digit 4 (3 for west part of the city)) Funabashi
 048 (next digit 2) Kawaguchi
 048 (next digit 6 or 7 or 8) Saitama
 049 Kawagoe
 052 Nagoya
 053 Hamamatsu
 0532 Toyohashi
 054 Shizuoka
 055 Kofu
 0564 Okazaki
 0565 Toyota
 0568 Kasugai
 058 Gifu
 0586 Ichinomiya
 059 (next digit 2) Tsu
 059 (next digit 2) Yokkaichi
 06 Osaka, Higashiōsaka, Suita, Toyonaka, Amagasaki
 072 (next digit 2) Sakai
 072 (next digit 6) Takatsuki
 072 (next digit 8) Hirakata
 073 Wakayama
 0742 Nara
 075 Kyoto
 076 (next digit 2) Kanazawa
 076 (next digit 4) Toyama
 077 (next digit 5) Ōtsu
 0776 Fukui
 078 Kobe
 079 (next digit 2)Himeji
 0798 Nishinomiya
 082 Hiroshima
 083 (next digit 2) Shimonoseki
 083 (next digit 9) Yamaguchi
 084 Fukuyama
 0852 Matsue
 086 (next digit 2 to 9) Okayama
 086 (next digit 4 or 5) Kurashiki
 087 (next digit 8) Takamatsu
 088 (next digit 6) Tokushima
 088 (next digit 8) Kochi
 089 (next digit 9) Matsuyama
 092 Fukuoka
 093 Kitakyushu
 0942 Kurume
 095 (next digit 8) Nagasaki
 0952 Saga
 0956 Sasebo
 096 Kumamoto
 097 Ōita
 098 Naha
 0985 Miyazaki
 099 Kagoshima

Geographic numbers are 10 digits long including the leading 0 and the area code. Consequently, densely populated areas have shorter area codes, while less populated areas have longer area codes. For example:

 06 xxxx xxxx (Osaka)
 075 xxx xxxx (Kyoto)
 0742 xx xxxx (Nara)
 04992 x xxxx (Niijima island, Tokyo pref.)
 082486 xxxx (Takano, Hiroshima pref.)

Area codes increase from north to south; Sapporo in Hokkaidō (the northernmost prefecture) has 011, and Setouchi's 09973 is far to the south in Kagoshima. When the telephone system was devised, Okinawa was still under U.S. occupation, so when it was returned to Japan in 1972, its telephone numbers were squeezed between Miyazaki (098x) and Kagoshima (099x) and begin with 0988, 0989, and 0980.

During the 1990s, when plans were being drawn up to amalgamate mid-sized cities and towns into larger municipalities, telephone numbering systems were merged in advance. For example,

 07442 x xxxx Kashihara (Nara prefecture)
 07444 x xxxx Sakurai
 074452 xxxx Takatori
 074454 xxxx Asuka
 etc.

became:

 0744 2x xxxx Kashihara
 0744 4x xxxx Sakurai
 0744 52 xxxx Takatori
 0744 54 xxxx Asuka
 etc.

Many of these towns have in fact refused to merge, leaving callers with more digits to dial when making local calls. This is partially balanced by not having to dial an area code for the neighboring city.

[+] See also

• Telephone numbering plan
• List of dialing codes in Japan

[+] External links

• Telephone information page of the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO)

See also +81 (Deerhoof) Code

Languages