Generally, the cheapest way of making international calls is to use one of the internet telephony services.

If you do not have high-speed internet access though, you can use your NTT phone. When you make an international call from an NTT phone, you can choose which company to use just by dialling that company’s “access code” prefix before the country code. With many companies, there is no need to apply in advance. Each month you just get bills from the companies you have used. For example, to use KDDI, first dial the access code 001-010, or to use NTT, dial 0033-010. To call Finland using KDDI, you would dial 001-010 358, then the area code (without the initial zero), then the person’s phone number.

To use SoftBank Telecom for international calls, you need to subscribe to Myline (http://www.myline.org/index_e.html). This is a service where you choose companies for local, long-distance, and international calls, and all calls you make then automatically use these companies—you do not need to dial their access codes first. Several companies provide discounted international phone calls.

Brastel offers a rechargeable phonecard that can be used for cheap domestic and international calls from anywhere in Japan. This company offers multilingual services. See http://www.brastel.com. For English, phone 0120-659-534 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Another company that gives large discounts on international calls is World Link, http://www.worldlink-tel.com/eintro.html.