Public phones in Japan Presented By Emi Igawa

Public phones in Japan Presented By Emi Igawa

The number of public phones seems to have decreased in recent years due to the popularity of mobile phones, but they are still numerous. Local calls are possible from any public phone, but international calls can only be made from certain phones. Telephone cards, which can be used instead of cash, are sold at kiosks and vending machines.

Currently, you will find mainly the following three types of public phones:

Green phones are the most common public phones. International calls are possible from some. Coins and phone cards can be used.
Grey phones are also very common. International calls are possible from most grey phones. Coins and conventional phone cards can be used.
Orange phones are the newest type of public phones and have also become quite common. International calls are possible, and coins and IC cards can be used.

In addition, you might still encounter some older types of public phones, for example, pink phones, which accept only 10 Yen coins.

Conventional land line phones

In Japan, conventional land line phone lines have be bought or rented. Buying a new phone line costs around 35,000 Yen, while buying a used phone line from somebody else is cheaper. Rented phone lines may not allow you to make international calls. Telephone lines are handled by NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone).