With a travel eSIM, maps, train routes, even the “I’ve arrived” message to your family all work just like at home. Then you install a taxi app, and the very first screen says “Enter phone number.”
If you get stuck right here, you’re far from alone. Some travel eSIMs, SIMs and pocket Wi-Fi are data-only and don’t come with a Japanese phone number.
But even without a number, your trip will usually go just fine. You need a Japanese phone number less often than you think. There are two things worth knowing in particular: the “verification code” an app sends when you sign up, and making a call if something happens. This article is about how to get through those two.
App steps and rules can change (this is based on what each company and organization said as of October 2026).
Verification codes — if one doesn’t arrive, there’s another way
When you sign up for an app or a website, you enter a phone number and a verification code arrives by SMS. Without a Japanese number, this is usually where you get stuck. That’s because a data-only SIM itself can’t receive SMS (if you keep your home number, you may be able to receive it there; more below).
But there’s more than one way to get past a verification code.
The taxi app “GO”: your passport and a photo of yourself
It’s a relief to call a taxi from the airport or station to your hotel instead of wheeling your suitcase there. To sign up for “GO,” a Japanese taxi app, you usually enter a mobile number that can receive SMS, then type in the 4-digit code that arrives.
If the SMS doesn’t arrive, go to “Cannot receive a SMS message?” on the sign-up screen. Set an email address and password, enter the 4-digit code sent to your email, then take photos of your passport and your face so they can confirm it’s you. What you’ll need: a valid passport, an email address, and a phone with a working camera.
One more thing. With a number from some countries, you may not be able to sign up from outside Japan. In that case, sign up after you arrive in Japan. If you’re in Japan and still can’t sign up, allow your phone to use location services and try again.
Your home number is worth keeping
You may want to receive verification codes from your bank or card company back home while you travel. On an iPhone, you can keep your home number as it is, add a travel eSIM, and use only the travel eSIM for data. For how to install an eSIM and switch over, see the “eSIM” article.
But whether your home number works for calls and SMS in Japan depends on your home carrier. Check with your carrier before you leave. Some carriers need settings like VoLTE or data roaming (for example, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom). If you turn data roaming on, check your plan’s charges too (see the “How to Get Your Phone Online in Japan” article).
LINE: if you’re from Korea or Taiwan, use your home number
If you’re from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan or Thailand, LINE verifies you with an SMS-capable number from a mobile carrier in that country or region. If you’re coming from Korea or Taiwan, you can use your home number. You can’t verify with numbers that exist only on the internet (virtual phone numbers), data-only SIMs, or Wi-Fi-only devices.
Booking sites: email works too
Tabelog’s English site sends sign-up and log-in verification codes by email, and booking confirmations by email too. You don’t need to receive SMS. But you will be asked to enter a phone number. When you change or cancel a booking, the number you entered is used to find your booking, so make a note of which number you used.
If something happens — 110 and 119
It’s best if you never need them. But if you know what to do, you can act calmly when the moment comes.
The numbers to remember: 110 and 119.
- 110 Police (traffic accidents, crime)
- 119 Ambulance and fire (fires, traffic accidents, serious illness or injury)
Both work 24 hours a day, and both are free.
But on a data-only travel eSIM, or on a phone still using your home line, you may not be able to call 110 or 119. Some Japanese mobile carriers also say that emergency calls can’t be made with a data-only SIM.
So besides your phone, keep two other ways in mind.
Show someone nearby this one sentence
The fastest way is to ask someone nearby, or the staff at your hotel or a shop. The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) also says that if you need an ambulance, you can show the sentence below to a Japanese person nearby and ask them to call one.
救急車を呼んでください。
(Please call an ambulance.)
If you need the police, show this sentence the same way.
警察を呼んでください。
(Please call the police.)
If you save it in your phone’s notes or keep a screenshot, you can show it even without a signal.
“Safety tips,” a free app supervised by the Japan Tourism Agency, also has communication cards to show the people around you when you want to ask them something.
From a public phone, it’s free
Calling 110 or 119 from a public phone takes no coins and no telephone card. Lift the receiver, press the red emergency button if there is one, then dial the number. On a green phone without the button, just lift the receiver and dial.
There are fewer public phones than there used to be, but you’ll still find them at stations, hotels and tourist sites.
Even if you don’t speak Japanese
When you call 119, at most fire departments nationwide (all of them in Nagano Prefecture), an interpreter for English, Chinese or Korean joins the call (as of January 2025).
For 110 too, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department says an interpreter joins the call if you can’t speak Japanese. Stay on the line until the interpreter comes on.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tells people coming from Taiwan that if they can’t speak Japanese, they should first say they’re a foreigner (for example, “我是台灣人”), and they’ll be connected to an interpreter.
What to tell 119
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency’s ambulance guide for visitors to Japan says to tell them these things, in this order, once you’re connected.
- That you need an ambulance
- Where you are (if you don’t know the address, a nearby building or intersection; if you can’t read the signs, show the current-location screen of your map app to someone near you)
- What’s wrong
- Your age
- Your name, and a phone number they can reach you on after you hang up
That last number is so the ambulance crew can contact you, for example if they can’t find you. If you don’t have a Japanese number, tell them so, and work it out with someone nearby or the staff where you’re staying.
For when you have no signal and no one is around, see the “When Your Phone Won’t Connect in Japan” article.
Not an emergency, but you need help
You’re lost, or you don’t know what to do. For times like that, there’s a phone line: JNTO’s “Japan Visitor Hotline” (050-3816-2787). It gives travel information 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in English, Chinese and Korean. If it’s an accident or a sudden illness, call 110 or 119 first. The hotline can also help with the trouble that follows. Call from your hotel’s phone or a line that can make calls. But as a rule, the hotline doesn’t make bookings for you or interpret in three-way calls.
If you want a Japanese number
If you really want a Japanese number, some SIMs and eSIMs come with a Japanese number starting with 070, 080 or 090. For example, Mobal’s plans with a number can receive SMS. You’ll need your original passport to sign up, and people under 18 can’t sign up.
Think of internet phone numbers starting with 050 as something different. For example, Brastel’s “My 050” can’t call 110 or 119, and can’t receive SMS either.
For now, just this
- With the taxi app “GO,” you can sign up with your passport and a photo of yourself, even if the SMS doesn’t arrive
- If you’ll use your home number, check with your carrier before you leave whether it’s set up for calls and SMS in Japan
- Make a note of the phone number you enter on booking sites
- Save “救急車を呼んでください。” (Please call an ambulance.) and “警察を呼んでください。” (Please call the police.) on your phone
- 110 is police, 119 is ambulance and fire. From a public phone, it’s free
Even without a Japanese number, you can call a taxi, and some booking sites let you verify by email. And what to do if something happens is already right there in your phone.
