Whether it's because your best friend lives in Japan, you want the secret to having the best sushi possible, or you just want to call a business in Japan, you need to know how to make an international call. Follow these steps to learn how to make an international call to Japan.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Gather the Necessary Numbers
Step 1. Find out the international departure number for your country
To make an international call, you must dial the exit code of your country (this is the number that tells the telephone server that you are about to make a call outside the country). If you were to make a call from the United States, your exit code would be 011, while if you wanted to call from Argentina, you would have to dial 00 to make an international call.
To find out what the exit code is for your country, simply do a search with your preferred internet search engine. Write a phrase like "[Your country name] exit code."
Step 2. Find out what is the code of the country with which you are trying to communicate
In this case the country is Japan. The country code for Japan is 81.
Step 3. Find out the area code of the region in Japan you are trying to call
The area code in Japan varies between one and five digits in length, depending on the area you are trying to reach.
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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
- Suite 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
Step 4. Know the local number you are trying to reach
This is the number of the person, business, or cell phone you are trying to reach. Telephone numbers are generally nine digits long, including the area code. For example, if you were calling Fukuyama, the entire number would be (84) -XXX-XXXX.
If you are trying to reach a cell phone in Japan, you will have to 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
Part 2 of 2: Make the call
Step 1. Find out what time it is in Japan
It is important that you remember that the time in Japan is most likely not the same as where you are calling from. Japan's time zone is the Japan Standard Time Zone, which is nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
Keep in mind that you may be charged for the international call even if no one answers on the other side. This should serve as an incentive to ensure that you call the person you want to communicate with in Japan at a time when they are actually awake
Step 2. Make your call and dial the full international number
As an example, let's say you are trying to call your friend who lives in Fukuyama, Japan and you live in San Francisco, California, United States. You should check:
- The United States exit code: 011
- Then the Japan country code: 81
- Then the Fukuyama area code: 81
- Then the seven digits of the local phone number: XXX-XXXX
- The full number would be 011-84-81-XXX-XXXX.
Step 3. If someone attends by saying “こ ん に ち は” (Kon'nichiwa) congratulations
You have called Japan successfully.
Advice
- Remember not to dial 0 from the beginning before calling Japan from abroad. Even though all Japanese landlines are 10 digits long and all Japanese cell phone numbers are 11 digits, you may need to dial only 9 or 10 digits, after the exit and country codes, to actually make the call.
- Direct dialing of international calls is very expensive in all countries. There are options to save money, such as: cards for international calls, hiring a discount service for long distance calls with your telephone provider, Internet calling programs such as Skype, or callback services.