Call the US from Japan — from your browser
To call a US number from Japan, open TwinPhone in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave or Safari, type +1 and the number, and press Call. US mobiles, landlines and toll-free 1-800 numbers cost US$0.02 a minute (about ¥3.3). No app and no SIM: sign up with an email and add credit from US$10 (about ¥1,608). The rate shows before the call connects.
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Landline $0.02/min · Mobile $0.02/min
Call nowFree account, no card to sign up. Calls use credit: top up from $10, billed per minute, rounded up, one-minute minimum.
Calling the US from Japan: key facts
- Price
- US$0.02 a minute to US mobiles, landlines and toll-free numbers. The same rate applies to Canada.
- In JPY
- About ¥3.3 a minute, converted at the card rate of 1 November 2026. Your balance and every charge stay in US dollars.
- Billing
- Whole minutes, rounded up, one-minute minimum. No subscription, no connection fee. A call nobody answers costs nothing.
- 1-800 numbers
- Toll-free numbers (800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, 888) are called like any US number, at US$0.02 a minute. They are free only for callers inside the US and Canada.
- Who you appear as
- A shared TwinPhone number that can't be called back, a US or Canadian number you rent from US$3.19/month, or your own verified mobile for US$1/month.
- Paying
- By card at checkout; the amount in your currency is shown before you pay. Credit packs of US$10, US$25, US$50, US$100; credit never expires.
- What you need
- A current Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave or Safari, a microphone and an internet connection. An email address or Google account to sign up.
- Not for
- Emergency numbers (911, 112, 999) and sending text messages.
What is different when you call the US from Japan
From a Japanese phone you dial 010 before an international number. US East Coast office hours fall late in the Japanese evening and night, so a call to a US business usually means calling after 22:00.
TwinPhone runs in the browser and charges per minute from prepaid credit, so calling a US office or a 1-800 line from a laptop needs no app and no international plan.
How to dial a US number from Japan
A US number has ten digits after the country code 1: a three-digit area code and a seven-digit number. Mobiles and landlines look the same and cost the same.
- In TwinPhone: +1 212 555 0142
- From a phone in Japan: 010 1 212 555 0142 — 010 is the exit code for international calls, then 1 for the US.
In TwinPhone you never type an exit code: the dial box adds +1 when you choose the United States. Paste a number with a leading 001, 011 or + and it is cleaned up for you.
Time difference between Japan and the US
For most of the coming year the clock in Japan is 13 hours ahead of New York and 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles. The gap moves when daylight saving starts or ends — the US, Europe and Australia switch on different days, and many countries do not switch at all.
| Period | vs New York (ET) | vs Los Angeles (PT) | US office hours 9:00–17:00 ET, your time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 November 2026 – 13 March 2027 | +14 h | +17 h | 23:00–07:00 |
| 14 March 2027 – 6 November 2027 | +13 h | +16 h | 22:00–06:00 |
| 7 November 2027 – 11 November 2027 | +14 h | +17 h | 23:00–07:00 |
Calculated for the coming year from the official time-zone database. Shops and offices on the West Coast open three hours after New York.
What a call to the US costs from Japan
- 1 minute
- US$0.02 (≈ ¥3.3)
- 10-minute call
- US$0.20 (≈ ¥33)
- 1-hour call
- US$1.20 (≈ ¥193)
- Smallest top-up, US$10 (≈ ¥1,608)
- 500 minutes to the US or Canada
JPY figures are conversions at the card rate of 1 November 2026, rounded up; you are charged in US dollars, and your bank may add its own fee. A few US lines on high-cost carriers are billed at their own rate — the dialer shows it before connecting.
Ways to call the US from Japan
Each option fits a different situation. What each one costs, where it stops — and where TwinPhone is the wrong tool:
| Option | Price to the US | Install needed? | Best for | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TwinPhone in the browser | US$0.02/min (≈ ¥3.3) | No | Calling US mobiles, landlines and 1-800 numbers from a computer, including a work laptop | Prepaid credit from US$10; no emergency calls; can't send SMS |
| NTT docomo (your Japanese mobile) | ¥34 per 30 s (weekdays 8–19), ¥31 other times | No | Calling from your own mobile number | WORLD CALL, pay per use, billed per 30 seconds; no consumption tax added |
| au (KDDI) (your Japanese mobile) | ¥39 per 30 s | No | Calling from your own mobile number | au international call service, billed per 30 seconds (rate table dated June 2024) |
| Viber Out | from 1.7 c/min | Yes, Viber app | People who already use Viber | Calls phones from the Viber app; the page gives no currency for the figure |
| WhatsApp, FaceTime | Free app to app | Yes, on both sides | Calling someone who uses the same app | Can't reach a landline, a 1-800 number or anyone without the app |
| Google Voice | — | No on the web | People in the US | Personal Google Voice is available only in the US |
| Skype | — | — | Spending Skype Credit you already have | Retired on 5 May 2025; new credit can't be bought |
Prices as each company publishes them: NTT docomo (read 1 November 2026); au (KDDI) (read 1 November 2026); Viber Out (read 1 November 2026). Google Voice and Skype as stated on their own help pages: Google Voice plans; Skype is retiring. Plans change — check your own before you rely on a figure.
Calling a US 1-800 number from Japan
A toll-free number is paid for by the company that owns it (FCC), and only for callers in the US and Canada. Japan is outside that area, so from a phone in Japan a 1-800 call is charged as an international call — and some toll-free lines don't take calls from abroad at all.
With TwinPhone the call leaves from the US network, so 1-800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 and 833 numbers ring like any US number, at US$0.02 a minute. Between 4 May 2026 and 9 November 2026 TwinPhone users placed 716 calls to US toll-free numbers; 639 of them were answered.
Some toll-free lines accept calls only from certain states. If one never connects, call the organisation's ordinary number instead — banks, airlines and agencies usually list one "for calls from outside the US".
- 1-800
- 1-833
- 1-844
- 1-855
- 1-866
- 1-877
- 1-888
- 911
Calling the US from Japan — FAQ
Short answers about prices, 1-800 numbers, caller ID and time zones.
US$0.02 a minute to US mobiles, landlines and toll-free numbers — about ¥3.3 at the card rate of 1 November 2026. A 10-minute call is US$0.20. Billing is in whole minutes with a one-minute minimum, and there is no subscription.
No. Signing up is free and needs no card, but calls to phone numbers are paid from credit — from US$10, which buys 500 minutes to the US. Calls are free only app to app, such as WhatsApp to WhatsApp.
Yes. Toll-free numbers starting 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877 and 888 ring like any US number, at US$0.02 a minute. A few lines accept calls only from certain US states; if one doesn't connect, use the organisation's ordinary number.
No. Calls run in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave or Safari on a computer or a phone. You sign up with an email or a Google account — no card, no phone number of your own.
No. In the US, mobiles and landlines use the same kind of number and cost the same: US$0.02 a minute. A small number of lines on high-cost rural carriers are billed at their own rate, and the dialer shows that rate before the call connects.
Without a number of your own they see a shared TwinPhone number, and calling it back does not reach you. Rent a US or Canadian number from US$3.19/month to be called back, or show your own verified mobile for US$1/month.
In TwinPhone type +1, the area code and the number: +1 212 555 0142. From a phone in Japan you dial 010 1 212 555 0142 — 010 first, then 1.
Right now US office hours on the East Coast (9:00–17:00 New York time) are 23:00–07:00 your time; the West Coast opens three hours later. The time table on this page lists the weeks when the gap changes.
Yes, by card at checkout, where the amount in your currency is shown before you pay. Your balance and every charge are in US dollars; JPY figures on this page are conversions at the rate of 1 November 2026.
Yes. Safari on an iPhone and Chrome on Android place calls the same way, on Wi-Fi or mobile data. There are also apps for iPhone (iOS 17.0 or later) and Android; one account and one balance work everywhere.
Yes. Canadian numbers also start with +1 and cost the same US$0.02 a minute.
No. A call that is not answered, a busy line and a call that fails to connect cost nothing. Billing starts when the other side picks up.
TwinPhone is run by hrhelperg s.r.o., a company registered in Prague, Czech Republic. Card payments go through Stripe. Unused credit can be refunded within 14 days if no more than 30% of it was spent.
Only the US moves its clocks, so Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of New York from March to early November and 14 hours ahead the rest of the year. The time table on this page lists the exact dates.
Yes. TwinPhone is pay-as-you-go from prepaid credit and needs no plan or contract; Japanese carriers bill US calls per 30 seconds, as the comparison table shows.
Related
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