NTT West /
Calling Overseas /
Mobile Phones (Keitai Denwa) /
Internet /
Television /
Newspaper /
Books and Magazines
Communication
NTT West
With your local NTT line, you pay a monthly service fee and for each minute you spend on the telephone, you pay an additional service fee. Calling outside Ehime is also more expensive and comes on a separate bill.
Nonetheless, saving on your domestic telephone bills can be easy. While NTT is well known for not advertising their "discount" savings programs, there are some telephone programs that can save you some major yen. Upon your request, NTT West can check which type of discount plan is the most appropriate and economical for you by looking at your telephone usage habits. For consultation, please call NTT West Information at 0120-364463. An English operator will help you. Consult the NTT West website for more information.
NTT West English Service Guide
Calling Overseas
If you do not plan carefully, your international telephone bill can reach peaks you have never imagined. Rule of thumb: do not use NTT to call abroad. Rather, use one of the following services:
- Yahoo BB: If you can hook your phone line to a Yahoo BB service, then please do. This is the easiest way to save big bucks in Japan. International phone calls are really cheap. So are calls within Japan. Check it out now at the YahooBB website or at your local electronics shop.
- Calling Cards: These cards allow you to make phone calls in Japan and also in the U.S.A. to virtually anywhere in the world, using any type of phone, at lower rates than standard carriers.
Brastel
JENS ipPhone
- Call Back: Call-back companies who offer discounted international telephone services by using the call-back system. Call-back involves calling an access number given to you by the company you register with. You let the phone ring once and then hang up and the company's automated system calls you back. Then you dial the telephone number of the person you need to reach. You are not charged for the call you make in the first place as it is never actually picked up.
Kall Back
Global Tel
- Carriers: Brastel and Worldlink are the two alternatives to NTT Communications used by many JETs. You may want to consult their website for the many services they offer.
- Worldlink: Offers a good service. Monthly charges are billed to your credit card.
- Brastel: Convenient, easy to use, excellent rates from your home or keitai. You can recharge your card at any convenient store (Smartpit at Lawson). Purchase your card from Ehime AJET!!!
- IP Communication:?@If you have an internet
connection home, you can also use a number of softwares that allow telephone conversation. Free services such as MSN?@Messenger, Yahoo!Messenger, Google Talk and AIM offer audio and video options. Others such as Skype allow you to call a landline telephone abroad for a cheap price or talk computer-to-computer for free. All you need is to connect a microphone to your computer. Check it out.
Mobile Phones (Keitai Denwa)
If you haven't noticed yet, everyone here seems to have a cell phone. In Ehime, DoCoMo, AU, and Softbank (formerly Vodafone) are the three big mobile service providers and have shops throughout Ehime. You may need the help of your supervisor or a Japanese friend to help translate during the application process. You will need your hanko (personal seal), passport, gaijin card and possibly a credit card or the authorization of your bank (direct debit) for the application. Ask around your office and renewing JETs about which phone packages have worked best for them.
Internet
If you are in the city, you should have no problem connecting to the internet. A wide variety of providers offer similar connections to what you are used to back home are available (ASLD, ISDN, Dial-up). In Japan, broadband services commonly known as BB are also very convenient. If you have cable television, you may want to check into cable internet as well. However, because Ehime counts many rural areas, you might not be able to get a high-speed connection. ISDN and dial-up are usually available everywhere (56k - 64k). Here are the most common connections used by JETs:
- OCN (NTT Communications)
Customer support for subscribers: 0120-047-860 (Japanese Only)
Website: Info in English.
- Asahi Net
English service:
0570-01-3522 (for calls from a fixed telephone line)
03-3569-3522 (for calls from cell phones or public phones)
Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding Japanese national holidays.
Website: Info in English.
- Yahoo! BB
0120-33-4546 (Japanese Only)
Website: Info in Japanese.
Television
- Cable: Cable TV broadcasts mainly in Japanese. This might be a good idea if you want to practice the language. There may be a very few English programs with Japanese sub-titles or with simultaneous dubbing (English, Chinese). The cable company also offer cable internet connection. These services are available only in big cities and may not reach rural JETs.
- CATV West Cable Network Seto Corporation, 0893-25-0212 (Japanese Only)
- Wowow: A cool all-English channel which you can subscribe to. It's full of English movies, sports events, music, comedy, etc. and costs 2000 yen a month. You can apply for getting WOWOW at some major electronics stores. English help is available on 0570-008-080.
- Sky Perfect TV: A communication satellite (CS) that provides over 150 channels and Pay-Per-View (BBC World, CNN, Discovery, Movie channels, adult programming). After signing up for a two-week preview period, you choose what channels you want. Be warned though; if your place doesn't already have a satellite, there will be an initial cost of the satellite, the decoder and installation and a monthly user fee. Like most other bills, the monthly fee can be deducted automatically from your bank account.
English service at 0570-039-888 +9 or 045-339-0202 +9 from 10:00~20:00.
- Video
Every city has at least one video store with English movies and TV programs sub-titled in Japanese. The most popular one in Japan is Tsutaya. Registration fee is usually 500 yen and you need your Alien Registration Card and your official seal to complete the subscription. You can rent videos and music for one day or for one week (iishukan). Be warned that some movies may be of a foreign country such as Germany or France. Japanese sub-titles will be of little help then. Late fees are extremely expensive so you want to make sure to bring your videos back on time.
Newspapers
- Asahi Evening News, Evening daily, 3,300 yen per month, 0120-45-6371.
- Daily Yomiuri, morning daily, 120 yen per copy, 2650 yen per month, Yomiuri Shinbun, 0120-43-1159.
- Mainichi Daily News, Morning daily, 3,400 yen per month, contact 03-3212-0321 (ext. 3250, 3252).
- The Japan Times, Morning daily, 160 yen per copy, 4380 yen per month, contact Asahi Shinbun, 0120-03-6242.
- The Mikan, our famous Ehime AJET newspaper is now available as a PDF file downloadable from EhimeAJET.com or from the EhimeJET Yahoo Group. Contact the Mikan editors for more information.
Books and Magazines
English Books and Magazines can be purchased at Kinokuniya in Matsuyama. The foreign section of the store is on the fourth floor.
Kinokuniya, 5-7-1 Chifune machi, Matsuyama. Tel. 089-932-0005, FAX 089-932-6936 (10:00~19:30) http://www.kinokuniya.co.jp/04f/d03/ehime/01.htm
Check out the Hiragana Times, a monthly bilingual magazine for those who are studying Japanese.
