New requirements from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) will require every owner of a new Japanese local number to have a physical interconnection on premise. This makes service provisioning very challenging and as a result, these numbers will be withdrawn from service with our underlying carriers and therefore will no longer be usable. You should have already received notification from our Numbering Operations Team if you currently have a Japanese local number on your account.

What numbers are affected?

Japanese local numbers have prefixes like +8144 for Kawasaki, +8152 for Nagoya, or +816 for Osaka. Users will no longer be able search for or provision new Japanese local numbers through Telnyx. All existing Japanese local numbers will be withdrawn from operations at Telnyx starting March 1, 2023. Only national and toll-free Japanese numbers will be available from that point on.

What do I need to do?

We urge users to start replacing current Japanese local numbers with Japanese national and toll-free numbers. National numbers are those with the prefix +8150, and toll-free numbers begin with +81 800 or +81 120. These numbers are easily searchable through our portal and APIs.

The following are the requirements for obtaining national and toll-free numbers in Japan:

For personal identity verification:

- Name, last name

- Contact phone number

- Passport or ID copy

For business identity verification:
- Name, last name
- Contact phone number
- Company name
- Company incorporation certificate copy

For address verification:
- Address worldwide (street, building number, postal code, city, and country)
- A copy of a utility bill (less than 6 months old)

For business identity verification:
- Name, last name
- Contact phone number
- Passport or ID copy
- Company name
- Company incorporation certificate copy
​
For address verification:
- Address worldwide (street, building number, postal code, city, and country)

*Japanese Toll-Free numbers cannot be registered under personal details.

***Please note that once the documentation is received it will take approximately 72 hours to validate the information and activate the number for use.

Want to learn more about what you can do with Global DIDs in Japan? Telnyx Global DID Numbers are future-ready and start at only $1.

DID numbers are virtual, they can be assigned or reassigned to any phone or device. They’re also flexible, meaning businesses can create unlimited Japan DID numbers on a single SIP trunk, with few limitations.

Telnyx continuously expands global calling services for seamless connectivity in Japan. We currently offer local calls in 49 countries and PSTN replacement in 35+ (with more coming soon).

Looking for a DID provider that offers SIP trunk connections? Telnyx streamlines your VoIP operations by providing both DID numbers and SIP trunking. This is more affordable, simplifies your phone infrastructure and reduces how many invoices you manage each month. We also own and operate our own IPs, so your calls bypass congestion on the public internet, making them more secure and reliable.

Additional resources for Japan DIDs

Blog: How to get a VoIP number