Virtual Okinawa Blog

Telephoning on Okinawa can be a bit frustrating, but a few tips may help you sort the problem out.

Pink, beige or red telephones are local pay phones intended for short calls, as they will only accept one 10 yen coin at a time. The less commonly seen blue telephone is for longer local calls- - they will take up to six 10-yen coins at once. Yellow phones are for local or domestic long distance (i.e. mainland Japan) calls. They will accept up ten 10 yen coins and nine 100 yen coins at a time. If you need to make an international long-distance call, use a green phone. You may reverse the charges by calling the operator at 0051; if you wish to pay locally, with coins or a telephone card, dial the country code first (0011 for the U.S.) then the area code and phone number. Other country codes are listed in the base telephone directory.

It is far better to overpay the telephone than to be cut off in the middle of your conversation- extra coins will be returned after you complete your call.

Public pay phones do not require payment to dial off-base emergency services for police dial 110, for fire or medical dial 119. On some phones, you can just press a button- - you will see appropriate pictures, next to the right button.

098-9 and 098-8 are both Okinawa south area codes. If you're calling from within one of these areas to another number in the area then you will only need to dial the last seven digits of the number. If you're trying to call a 098-0 north area code then you must dial all nine digits. If you're within 098-0 dial within you only need the last six digits.

This information was gathered from the publication, "Okinawa, Where Is It?" which was published by the All Soul's Episcopal Church and may be purchased at book stores on many American bases across the island or from All Soul's directly.