Telephone numbers in Japan

Telephone numbers in Japan consist of an area code, an exchange number, and a subscriber number.

Dialing prefixes[edit]

• 001, 00xx, 002xx, 0091xx Carrier selection prefix
• 184 Prefix to withhold caller ID
• 186 Prefix to provide caller ID009184869

Types of numbers[edit]

 1xx    Special numbers  001 and 00xx   Carrier selection codes  0x     2-digit geographic area codes  0xx    3-digit geographic area codes  0xxx   4-digit geographic area codes  0xxxx  5-digit geographic area codes  0x0    3-digit non-Geographic area codes (excluding 010)  0xx0   4-digit non-Geographic area codes (01x0, 0570, 0800, 0910, 0990) 

Length of numbers[edit]

• Special numbers are three digits long
• Geographic numbers are 10 digits long
• 0x0 Non-geographic numbers are 10 -or- 11 digits long.
• 0xx0 Non-geographic numbers are 10 digits long

Three-digit numbers (special numbers)[edit]

Emergency services[edit]

 110  Police (112 and 911 redirect to 110 on mobile phones)  118  Maritime emergencies  119  Ambulance, Fire brigade  171  Earthquake assistance 

Operator services[edit]

 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[edit]

 104  NTT national directory enquiries  0057 KDDI international directory enquiries 

Special services[edit]

 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)[edit]

 001   KDDI (international)  0032  IPS Inc.  0033  NTT Communications  0034  NTT Communications (international toll free)  0036  NTT East  0037  Fusion Communications  0039  NTT West  0041  SoftBank Telecom (international / former Japan Telecom)  0053  KDDI (Resold)  0056  KDDI (international)  0061  SoftBank Telecom (international / former Cable and Wireless IDC)  0066  SoftBank Telecom (international / former Cable and Wireless IDC)  0070  KDDI Toll Free  0071  Verizon Japan  0077  KDDI (national)  0080  T-Systems  0081  Fusion Communications (former TTNet)  0088  SoftBank Telecom (national / former Japan Telecom)  0089  T-Systems  0091  Brastel 

10 digit numbers[edit]

Non-geographic area codes[edit]

 0120 NTT Freedial, toll free 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  0570 Navi Dial [ja]  0800 Other toll free services  020  Paging services (PDC) and data services (UMTS)  030  Mobile telephony services (legacy systems, PDC, J-CDMA, UMTS) - currently not used  040  Mobile telephony services (legacy systems, PDC, J-CDMA, UMTS) - currently not used  050  IP telephony service (via internet service providers)  060  Universal personal number services  070  Mobile telephony and data services (PDC, J-CDMA, UMTS)  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[edit]

 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[edit]

 11  Sapporo  138 Hakodate  166 Asahikawa  17-7　or 172 Aomori  18-8 Akita  19-6 Morioka  22  Sendai  23-6 Yamagata  24-5 Fukushima  24-6 Iwaki  24-9 Kōriyama  25  Niigata   26  Nagano  27-2 Maebashi  27-3 Takasaki  28-6 Utsunomiya  3   Tokyo (23 Special wards), Komae  4-29 Tokorozawa  4-70 Kamogawa  4-71 Kashiwa  42-6 Hachiōji  42-7 Machida, Sagamihara  43 　Chiba  44  Kawasaki  45  Yokohama  466 Fujisawa  46-8 Yokosuka  47-3 Ichikawa, Matsudo  47-4 (473 for west part of the city) Funabashi  48-2 Kawaguchi  48-6 or 48-7 or 48-8 Saitama  48-9　Soka, Koshigaya  49  Kawagoe  52  Nagoya  53  Hamamatsu  53-2 Toyohashi  54  Shizuoka  55  Kofu  564 Okazaki  565 Toyota  568 Kasugai  569 Handa  58  Gifu  586 Ichinomiya  592 Tsu, Yokkaichi  6   Osaka, Higashiōsaka, Suita, Toyonaka, Amagasaki  72-2 Sakai  726 Takatsuki  72-8 Hirakata  73  Wakayama  742 or 743 Nara  75  Kyoto  76-2 Kanazawa  76-4 Toyama  768 Suzu  77-5 Ōtsu  776 Fukui  78  Kobe  790 Kasai  792 or 793 Himeji  794 Kakogawa  797 or 798 Nishinomiya, Takarazuka  82  Hiroshima  832 or 834 Shimonoseki  839 Yamaguchi  84  Fukuyama  852 Matsue  857 Tottori  862 or 869 Okayama  864 or 865 Kurashiki  87 Takamatsu  88-6 Tokushima  88-8 Kochi  89 Matsuyama  92  Fukuoka  93  Kitakyushu  942 Kurume  95-8 Nagasaki  952 Saga  956 Sasebo  96  Kumamoto  97  Ōita  98-8 or 98-9  Naha  981 or 98-5 Miyazaki  99  Kagoshima 

Geographic numbers are nine digits long, including the area code, but not including the leading zero. Consequently, densely populated areas have shorter area codes, while less populated areas have longer area codes. For example:

• 6 xxxx xxxx (Osaka)
• 75 xxx xxxx (Kyoto)
• 742 xx xxxx (Nara)
• 4992 x xxxx (Niijima island, Tokyo pref.)
• 82486 xxxx (Takano, Hiroshima pref.)

Area codes increase from north to south; Sapporo in Hokkaidō (the northernmost prefecture) has 11, and Setouchi's 99-73 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 (98x) and Kagoshima (99x) and begin with 988, 989, and 980.

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,

• 7442 x xxxx Kashihara (Nara prefecture)
• 7444 x xxxx Sakurai
• 74452 xxxx Takatori
• 74454 xxxx Asuka etc.

became:

• 744 2x xxxx Kashihara
• 744 4x xxxx Sakurai
• 744 52 xxxx Takatori
• 744 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.

Area code as local brand naming[edit]

After entering the 2010s, local products and events have begun using names which come from the area code.^{[citation needed]}

0465net (Odawara, Kanagawa)
0428 T-shirt (Ome, Tokyo)
028 Market (Utsunomiya, Tochigi)
028 Machinaka (Inner-City) Wi-Fi (Utsunomiya, Tochigi)
Bar 053 (Hamamatsu, Shizuoka)

See also[edit]

• List of dialing codes in Japan
• Communications in Japan § Telephone services
• List of telephone operating companies § Japan
• Telephone numbering plan

References[edit]

• ITU allocations list

External links[edit]

• Telephone information page of the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO)
• Whitepages.jp Whitepages in English