Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
department store has a service desk for tax refunds. When you make a purchase the tax
will be included; take the purchase, receipt and your passport to the service desk for an
immediate refund.
If you eat at expensive restaurants and stay at first-class accommodation, you will en-
counter a service charge, which varies from 10% to 15%. A tax of 5% is added to restaur-
ant bills exceeding ¥5000 or for hotel bills exceeding ¥10,000.
Telephone
The area code for greater Kyoto is 075; unless otherwise indicated, all numbers in this
book fall into this area. Japanese telephone codes consist of an area code plus a local code
and number. You do not dial the area code when making a call in that area. When dialling
Japan from abroad, the country code is
81, followed by the area code (drop the 0) and
the number.
Directory Assistance
Local directory assistance
104 (¥60-150 per call)
Local directory assistance in English
0120-36-4463 (9am to 5pm Monday to Friday)
International directory assistance
0057
International Calls
The best way to make an international phone call from Japan is to use a prepaid interna-
Paid overseas calls can be made from grey international ISDN phones. These are usu-
ally found in phone booths marked 'International & Domestic Card/Coin Phone'. Unfor-
tunately, these are very rare; try looking in the lobbies of top-end hotels and at airports.
Some new green phones found in phone booths also allow international calls. Calls are
charged by the unit, each of which is six seconds, so if you don't have much to say you
could phone home for just ¥100. Reverse-charge (collect) overseas calls can be made from
any pay phone.
