Communications and Media

Telephones

Landlines

NTT is responsible for regular landline phone service. To set up service, please visit the Urasoe NTT branch office. There is a one-time sign up fee (ichiji harai-kin 一時払い金) of ¥37,800, plus installation charges if your apartment or house does not have wiring or a phone jack. You can avoid the sign-up fee if the person who lived in your apartment before you agrees to transfer their telephone account to your name, as opposed to canceling the account. Unfortunately this is usually only possible if you know the person whose apartment you will be moving into.

You will then be charged a monthly telephone fee, plus charges for phone calls you make. You may also purchase a telephone from NTT, but prices are better at local electronic stores.

If you are late in paying your phone bill, you will receive a notice stating that if you do not pay your bill by a certain date, your phone will be cut off. If this happens, you will be required to pay in person during business hours at the Urasoe NTT branch. They will reinstate service on the spot. If you have had your service terminated in the past, however, NTT will be much less lenient with late payments on phone bills.

If you move to a new apartment, it is possible to have your old telephone service transferred there. Please contact NTT for more details.

Disconnection of service should be made in person at least 15 days in advance. You must bring some identification with you. At this time, you will have the option to transfer the line to another individual if you are selling or giving the line to someone else, or to put your line on hold, so that you can transfer it to your next residence.

NTT also has a website (with English). For detailed information about prices at different times of day and other such information, please check it out.

International & Long Distance Phone Calls

Unless you sign up for services through other companies, you will automatically be directed through KDDI on long-distance and international calls. It is not the cheapest option, so consider looking into supplementary plans if you will be making a lot of long distance or international calls.

To make an international phone call, dial 010 + Country Code + Area Code + Phone Number. Unless you sign up for a different company’s services, you will be directed through KDDI.

Brastel is a long-distance calling company that offers reasonable rates, and Internet phone services such as Skype allow you to make calls for free.

Mobile (Cellular) Phones (Keitai Denwa 携帯電話)

A cell phone may be a more practical option than buying a landline phone, both because of the prohibitive cost of landline phone installation and the portability of the cell phone.

If you decide to get a cell phone, you will need your Alien Registration Card and inkan.

There are 3 major cell phone companies in Japan: AU, NTT Docomo, and SoftBank. AU has the best reception throughout Okinawa, and has transmission towers even on small outer islands. In other ways, all of the companies are quite similar.

Cell phones may cost around ¥10,000-¥20,000, depending on the model. Built-in cameras are now standard equipment. More expensive phones feature higher quality cameras and are capable of taking digital video. Some older (but perfectly adequate) models of cell phones are free with a calling plan. Most of the newer and fancier phone models are only in Japanese but there are lots and lots of models that have English capabilities. All companies offer discounts for students, families, couples, and multi-year contracts. These may entail lower rates, a discount on the cell phone itself, and other benefits.

Calling On-Base Phone Numbers

To call an on-base phone number from off base, first dial 911-5111, wait for the dial tone, and then dial the on-base phone number.

The on-base operators sometimes get jammed with calls, in which case you will find yourself unable to get through to the number you want to reach via the operator (the initial number listed above). There is an easy way to convert on-base phone numbers into normal 9-digit Japanese numbers, explained here. This will allow you to reach people on-base directly, without dialing the operator first.

Internet

You can get broadband internet service through NTT, Yahoo BB, or a number of smaller companies. Most large electronics stores such as Best Denki have booths for broadband providers.

Wireless internet connections are available at all four McDonald's restaurants in Urasoe.

Television

Broadcast TV Channel Guide
Channel 2 ANKH (Japanese Broadcasting Company)
Channel 6 AFN (Armed Forces Network - English Language Broadcasting)
Channel 8 OTV (Okinawa Television)
Channel 10 RBC (Ryukyu Broadcasting Company)
Channel 12 NHK

English Television Programming
If you have a bilingual TV, you will be able to receive foreign language programming on selected shows. Bilingual programs are marked in the newspaper with a symbol. These programs include a few foreign films, RBC news at 6pm, and NHK news translated into English that is broadcast during the week from 7 to 7:20 pm. Some news programs are not translated over the weekend. CNN news is broadcast on AFN at either 6 pm or 6:15 pm every evening. AFN does not require a bilingual converter. However, to listen to NHK and RBC English language broadcasts, a converter is required. You will have to buy a television with bilingual capabilities (Onsei Tajū Kirikae 音声多重切り替え).

In order to receive cable television, you must contact OCN. OCN offers several channels with programming in English, as well as numerous Japanese channels. There are several large costs up-front. There is a fixed start-up fee of ¥10,500, and then an installation fee that depends on the difficulty involved in the installation (you should expect to pay around ¥20,000 for this). Set-up and monthly fees depend upon the channels to which you subscribe, but basic service costs around ¥3,360 a month (including cable box rental). Sometimes, OCN offers "campaigns, " during which the installation and start-up fees are dramatically reduced.

Satellite Television
Satellite Television is available in Okinawa. In order to use satellite television, you must either rent or buy a small satellite dish. These are available at several electronics shops in Okinawa.There is an array of different channels, including BBC World, CNN International, MTV, ESPN, Discovery Channel, Pay Per View, and Playboy. There are programs in several different languages including Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, English, Chinese, and Spanish.

Public Television Fee
NHK offers commercial-free television by covering its expenses through subscription. Residents in Japan with TVs are expected, but not obliged, to pay this fee in accordance with the Broadcasting Law. However, residents who do not speak Japanese might not be asked to pay. If you do not wish to pay, you can explain to the collector that you cannot understand Japanese, and therefore you do not watch NHK. NHK bill collectors visit houses and apartment complexes every two months. (Fee is approximately ¥2000/month.)

Radio

Digital Radio is also available. Digital Radio offers additional radio broadcasts for a small fee. Please contact OCN for details.

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