Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
60
code. (For the United States, dial
&
0039-
111.
) These calls can be used for collect
calls or credit card calls. Some hotels and
other public places are equipped with spe-
cial phones that will link you to your home
operator with the push of a button, and
there are instructions in English.
If you have a U.S. calling card, ask your
phone company for the direct access num-
ber from Japan that will link you directly
to the United States. If you have AT&T,
for example, dial
&
00539-111
to place
calls using KDDI or
&
00665-5111
to
use Softbank Telecom.
CELLPHONES
The three letters that define much of the
world's wireless capabilities are GSM
(Global System for Mobiles). Unfortu-
nately, Japan uses a system that is incom-
patible with GSM. You can, however, use
your
own mobile phone number
in Japan
by bringing your own SIM card from
home and inserting it into a handset
rented from
Softbank Global Rental
or
NTT DoCoMo.
It only works, however, if
your home service provider has a roaming
agreement with Softbank or NTT. For
more information, contact your mobile
phone company, NTT DoCoMo (http://
roaming.nttdocomo.co.jp), or Softbank
Global Rental (www.softbank-rental.jp),
where you can also find out about rental
costs and rental locations and make online
reservations. Another option is to bring
your own mobile phone and rent a SIM
card from Softbank.
Otherwise, if you want to have a tele-
phone number before arriving in Japan,
consider renting a phone before leaving
home. North Americans can rent one
before leaving home from
InTouch USA
(
&
800/872-7626;
www.intouchglobal.
com) or
Roadpost
(
&
888/290-1606;
www.roadpost.com).
You can also rent a phone in Japan
(unfortunately, foreign visitors are not
from vending machines next to telephone
booths in hotels or in convenience stores
such as Sunkus, Circle K, Family Mart, or
Lawson. There are numerous such cards
(with instructions in English), including
the rechargeable
Brastel Smart Phone-
card
(
&
0120/659-543;
www.brastel.
com), which charges ¥49 to ¥54 per min-
ute from a payphone to a landline in the
U.S. or United Kingdom; or the
KDDI
Super World Card
(
&
0057;
www.kddi.
com), which gives approximately 21 min-
utes of weekday talk time to the U.S. on
its ¥1,000 card. Some hotels have special
phones equipped to accept credit cards.
International rates
vary according to
when you call, which telephone company
you use, and what type of service you use.
Direct-dial service is cheaper than opera-
tor-assisted calls. The cheapest time to call
is between 11pm and 8am Japan time,
while the most expensive time is weekdays
from 8am to 7pm.
If you're not using a prepaid card
(which has its own set of instructions and
access numbers), to make a direct-dial
international call, you must first dial one
of the international access codes offered
by the various telephone companies—
001
(KDDI),
0033
(NTT Communica-
tions), or
0061
(Softbank Telecom)—
followed by
010,
and then the country
code. The country code for the United
States and Canada is
1;
for the United
Kingdom, it's
44;
for Australia, it's
61;
and for New Zealand, it's
64.
Next you
dial the area code and number. For
example, if you wanted to call the British
Embassy in Washington, D.C., using
KDDI you would dial
001-010-1-202-
588-6500.
If you're dialing from your
hotel room, you must first dial for an
outside line, usually
0.
If you wish to be connected with an
operator in your home country, you can do
so from green international telephones by
dialing
&
0039
followed by the country
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