What you need to apply for home internet in Japan
This page contains affiliate links. If you sign up through one of them, we may receive a commission from the provider. It does not change what you pay, and it does not change the order things are listed in.
Nothing on this list is unusual, but two items catch people out: the payment method has to be Japanese, and the address has to match your residence card exactly.
- Check your residence card is current and the address on the back matches where the line will be installed
- Have a Japanese bank account or a credit card issued in Japan ready
- Have a Japanese mobile number for the confirmation call
- Find out whether your building already has fibre, and who the management company is
- Apply, then expect a confirmation call within a few days
Residence card, and the address on the back
Your 在留カード (zairyū card) is the ID every provider accepts. The part that causes trouble is the back, where your registered address is written by hand at the city office.
If you moved recently and have not updated it, the address on your card will not match the installation address, and the application stalls. Update it at the ward or city office first. It takes about twenty minutes and costs nothing.
A Japanese payment method
A credit card issued outside Japan will usually be rejected, even if it works everywhere else. The billing systems check the card BIN and reject foreign issuers.
A Japan Post Bank or regular Japanese bank account works for direct debit. If you have a Japanese debit card, check first — some providers accept only credit cards for the monthly billing.
This is often the real reason an application fails, and the rejection message rarely says so clearly.
A Japanese phone number
Almost every provider calls you to confirm the order and arrange the installation date. They call a Japanese number, during Japanese business hours, and the call is in Japanese.
Two of the providers on this site (GTN Hikari and Sakura Fiber) will make that call in your language instead. For the others, this call is the single point where most people need help.
Knowing what your building already has
If fibre is already run to your apartment, installation is a short indoor job and can happen within two weeks. If it is not, someone has to bring a line in from outside, which needs the building owner's permission and takes considerably longer.
The management company (管理会社) knows the answer. Their number is usually on a notice in the entrance hall or on your lease.