EASC Study Tour 2002: Topic of the Week #4

Communication
by Mayumi Nakano

Call & Fax to Japan | Call from Japan | Phone Cards | Pay Phones
Cellular Phone | Fax | E-mail & Internet | Mail
Speak English | English-Language Assistance | Speak Japanese
TOW Main | Study Tour 2003 Home

Calling & Faxing to Japan
To make international direct-dial calls to Japan, you need to dial: International Access Code (usually 011) + Country Code (81 for Japan) + Area Code (when dialing from outside Japan, drop the zero from the beginning of the area code) + Local Number. Please be aware of the time difference between your region and Japan. Japan is fifteen hours ahead of DST Central Time, and they do not observe daylight savings time (see Time Zone Converter). Most of the hotels we will be staying in have English-speaking staff, so you or your family/friends should not hesitate calling them if necessary. However, if you want to contact a smaller business establishment or your host family, you probably should make your initial contact via fax so that you won't surprise them. Fax machines are widely used in Japanese businesses. In Japan, the majority of people have a fax machine at home as well, usually using the same line for both telephone and fax: it is common to hear a recorded voice (in Japanese) that tells you to hold if you are making a phone call or press the start/send button if you are sending a fax.

Calling from Japan
The most convenient and comfortable way of calling your loved ones home would be from your hotel room, but this can be expensive as you may imagine. When I was in Japan last summer, I often called my husband in Bloomington from a pay phone located in a hotel lobby and asked him to call my room in five minutes. This coordination worked very well because I only had to spend 100 yen each time I called him (we still could talk for a minute or two) and then he could always catch me when I was in the room. I usually called him after dinner (e.g. 8pm in Japan and 6am in Bloomington) or after breakfast (e.g. 8am in Japan and 6pm in Bloomington). However, sometimes I had trouble finding a pay phone that would accept international direct-dial calls, and you may have the same problem.

In Japan, green pay phones are the most common, but you can no longer make international direct-dial calls from them due to the proliferation of counterfeit magnetic telephone cards. Paid and collect international calls can be made from gray ISDN phones and green phones which have a gold metal plate around the buttons. There are also KDDI phones which accept international calls with credit cards. However, if you use your calling cards (e.g. AT&T, MCI, Sprint), you may be able to make international calls from any touch-tone phone in Japan. We suggest you contact your long distance carrier for more information before you leave. Also, don't forget to bring your access code because it's difficult to locate onces you're in Japan.

To make international direct-dial phone calls from Japan, you need to dial: International Access Code (see below) + Country Code (1 for the U.S.) + Area Code + Local Number. There are a number of international access codes available in Japan, depending on which long-distance phone company you choose. 001 (KDDI --see "International Telephone Services" and "... KDDI's Telephone Services") and 0033 (NTT) are two major ones in Japan. Most companies offer discount rates during late night and early morning and on weekends and holidays.

Prepaid Phone Cards
In Japan, most pay phones accept NTT telephone cards, which are magnetically encoded and inserted into a phone. Although they usually cannot be used for international calls, these cards are convenient to make domestic calls. Since they come in a huge variety of designs, telephone cards often make nice souvenirs as well. They are sold in many locations including hotels, convenience stores, and even shrines and temples (starting from 500 yen). There is also another type of prepaid phone cards that can be used to make international calls. Last summer I purchased a KDDI Super World Card (see "KDDI Phone Cards...") in Narita Airport (it had Hello Kitty on it!). There is no need to insert this one into the phone, and you can make international calls from any touch-tone phone. You can purchase these prepaid phone cards in airports, some hotels and convenience stores.

Making Calls from Pay Phones
Japanese pay phones accept 10- and 100-yen coins and usually magnetic telephone cards (unused 10-yen coins are returned, but no change is given on 100-yen coins). A local call costs 10 yen for three minutes. Please be aware that calling a cellular phone is much more expensive, so you may want to use a telephone card instead of continuously inserting coins. During the study tour, Mary and I will carry a cellular phone so that you can call us in case of emergency.

Renting Cellular Phones
There are a number of companies that offer cellular phone rentals at Narita Airport (rates and the quality of services vary, so shop around!). Japan Airlines also offers cellular phone rental service (via G-Phone).

Faxing
If you want to fax something either domestically or internationally, you should be able to do so at your hotels or convenience stores (you have to pay for the services of course).

E-mail & Internet
Some of the hotels where you will be staying have business centers where you can have access to an Internet-connected computer (roughly equivalent to $1-3 for ten minutes), but the outputs on the screen and keyboards are usually not in English. In big cities, you may also visit copy stores like Kinko's as well as cybercafes, but again you may encounter the language problem.

Sending Mail
Be sure to check the current airmail rate at the hotels (you can also buy stamps and drop outgoing mail at the front desk). If you need to send an overweight letter or a parcel, visit a nearby post office. Post offices are usually open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, except on national holidays. Japanese post offices offer a parcel service called "SAL" which is cheaper than airmail but faster than surface mail (it usually takes 2-3 weeks to the US while surface mail could take more than a month). Boxes in all different sizes are also sold in post offices.

Speaking English with Japanese
Even though all Japanese high-school graduates have studied English at least for six years, very few have had an actual conversation with a native speaker. When you need to talk to locals, pick likely targets (e.g. college students, business men & women) and speak simple words slowly and clearly. If they don't understand what you say, paraphrase it, write it down (Japanese tend to do better with written English), use body language, draw a picture, and so on. You may want to ask them to do the same if you have trouble understanding their English (be careful not to hurt their feelings!). Also, you must be aware that some English sounds are really difficult for Japanese to pronounce. Difficult sounds for the Japanese include (but are not limited to): "f," "l," "r," "th,"" v," and "w"--they especially have trouble distinguishing between "r" and "l" as well as "b" and "v" (if some word spoken to you doesn't make sense, try to replace "r" with l and vice versa, etc.). Anyway, don't take it for granted that everybody speaks English, and if anybody does, show your appreciation and smile!

English-Language Assistance