Job Discussion Forums

[zander7990]

I moving to japan soon and was wondering if the telephone jacks are the same as canada? I want to bring my own phone down to save money and was wondering if i can just plug it right in.

[Glenski]

Yes, the connections are the same, but why would you want to pack a telephone?

[shmooj]

Hmmm... the jacks seem the same as in other countries. I think this is an international standard in terms of the dimensions of the jacks. However, I would be surprised if the phone worked i.e. that the exchange and telephony here was identical to that abroad. You may be lucky but you'll have a piece of junk if you're not. You can pick up phones second hand really cheap anyway.

Have you checked whether you have a phone connection where you will be? Sounds stupid to ask really but if you don't have a line set up you will have to shell out quite a bit to get a number. A mobile might be a better way to go if you are only here short term.

[bshabu]

If you are bringing a cordless phone, you may have problems. They are controlled by the USA's FCC in America. So to in Japan(I don't know they name in Japanese). You are using public airspace and may run it problems. All counrties use certain frequencies for different things. Japan and USA have totally different systems.

Yes the phone will work. However you won't be saving that much money.

[ryuro]

Dumb idea!

I Had a friend who did the same thing- have no idea why- and it worked briefly. But even when it did work there was an annoying incessant hum in the background (this was not a cordless- he had one and it didn't work at all). Eventually it just stopped working.

Remember, even if the phone works, the power current and frequency flowing into the phone are different from N. America and over time it'll burn out the circuitry.

It'll be a waste of valuable packing space and someone already mentioned, phones are dirt cheap here.

cheers

[shmooj]

Just to clarify... I meant getting a mobile phone here once you settle in. You can get them in English so the language isn't an issue but you'll need your alien registration card and probably a bank account active to get set up on some kind of payment plan. But I don't know the details as I don't have one.

[BenJ]

... or you can just use a mastercard or other credit card without an alien registration card. Find a Vodaphone branch with an English-speaking staff member and ask.

[G Cthulhu]

Yes, the phone jack is the same as North America. If you've got a BT jack then you need to change it or bring an adaptor. The phone will plug straight into the system here (physcially, Japanese systems form the basis of most North American exchanges these days anyway) and should work fine.

Things to be aware of:

if it's cordless then it probably broadcasts on 900 Mhz. This is the same frequency as cell phones here, so you *may* sometimes have the signal swamped if you live near a transmitting tower or repeater.

if it's an asnwerphone or otherwise powered then the voltage will be different. Current doesn't matter as it will only draw what it needs. Also, frequency *may* or may not be different - Japan varies, but again, it doesn't really matter. You might find that functions such as time stamps simply don't run properly.

some or all of the functions built into the phone that rely on exchange-provided inputs simply won't work. Call forwarding or waiting, for example.


Other than that, go for it. Can't think why you'd bother unless you're bringing an answerphone (which are expensive here compared to the cheap ones you can get outside japan), but whatever. I used two NA phones while I was there. Both worked fine, except for the timers.

[Gordon]

I didn`t get my cordless phone to work (900 MHz), but the answering machine works fine. Don`t bring a phone with you, waste of space, as someone said earlier.