Internet in Japan: how to get home wifi as a new resident

Getting internet in Japan takes longer than most people expect. Fibre is the norm for home internet, but it usually means two contracts, an installation visit and a wait of some weeks, and the cheapest-looking plans often come with a two- or three-year term. If you sort it out early, you will not spend your first month living on phone data.

This guide covers the main options, how a fibre line actually gets into your flat, what the rules say about cancelling, and how to deal with the sales calls that follow every new address. Everything below was checked against pages from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan and NTT East on 31 October 2026.

Your options for home internet in Japan

There are three main ways to get home wifi in Japan. All of them end with a wifi router in your flat; the difference is what connects that router to the internet.

Fibre (光回線, hikari kaisen). A fixed line into your home. The most stable choice if you work from home or share the connection, but it needs an installation and usually a contract term.
Home router (据置型Wi-Fiルーター). A box you plug in at home that connects to a mobile network. It connects over the mobile network, so there is no fibre line to install, and MIC describes it as something you can set up at home soon after signing.
Pocket wifi or a mobile data plan. A portable router or your phone's tethering. Fine for the first weeks or for one person with light use.

Whatever the advert says about speed, MIC points out that the speed in internet adverts is usually the theoretical maximum (“best effort”). Real speed changes with your building, your equipment and how busy the network is, and evenings tend to be slower.

How fibre (fiber) internet in Japan works: a line and a provider

Fibre in Japan usually has two layers. One company owns the line to your home, and an internet provider (プロバイダ, an ISP) connects that line to the internet. NTT East, for example, states that to use the internet over its FLET'S Hikari line you need a contract with a provider as well, with its own monthly fee.

Many plans you see advertised bundle the line and the internet provider in Japan into one contract. MIC explains that NTT East and NTT West wholesale their fibre lines to other companies, called hikari collaboration (光コラボ) operators, which sell the line and the internet as one package. That is why a mobile carrier or an electricity company can sell you fibre. It is still the same physical line, so the questions below apply whichever company you choose.

If you are comparing the best internet provider in Japan for your situation, compare the total over the whole contract term, not the first-month price: monthly fee, installation fee, any router fee, and what you would pay if you left early.

Check your building first

Before you apply, ask your landlord or management company two questions: is fibre already installed in the building, and are there any rules about installation work? It changes the cost and the time.

NTT East's installation guide for apartment buildings shows why. The cable is first brought from the street into the building's shared equipment room. If that room is locked, you need to arrange with the management company or owner for it to be opened on the day. The cable then runs through the building's conduits to your flat, and a fibre socket is fitted on your wall. The conduits are provided by the owner or management, and in some buildings a small hole (about 10 mm) in the wall is needed. Buildings also use different wiring types (fibre to each flat, VDSL or LAN), which affects the speed you can get.

The fee depends on how much work is needed. As one example, NTT East's own price list for FLET'S Hikari (applications through its website) shows a standard installation of ¥22,000 when new indoor wiring is needed, ¥11,660 when the indoor wiring already exists, and ¥3,300 when only work at NTT's own facility is needed. Other companies set their own fees, NTT East has announced further price changes from April 2027, and it notes that the start date depends on your location and on the equipment available. Check the current price list when you apply.

Book early. If your building has no fibre yet, the owner has to agree to the work and an engineer has to visit. Apply as soon as you have a confirmed address, and plan to use mobile data until the line is live.

How to get internet in Japan: the steps

Confirm your address and the building's setup with the landlord or management company.
Choose a plan (line plus provider, or a bundled hikari collaboration plan) and check the contract term and the cancellation charges in writing.
Apply online, by phone or in a shop. Have your residence card ready as ID and a payment method. NTT East, for example, accepts bank account debit, credit card or paper bill. If you have not opened a Japanese account yet, see our guide to opening a bank account.
Be home for the installation visit if one is needed, and arrange access to any locked equipment room.
Connect your router using the setup guide sent before the line opens. Turn on wifi encryption and set a password: NTT East warns that without it a stranger can get into your network, and if you also use its fibre phone service, run up call charges.

The 8-day cancellation rule

Japan has a cooling-off style rule for internet contracts, called initial contract cancellation (初期契約解除, shoki keiyaku kaijo). MIC's 2026 consumer guide explains that for the covered services you can cancel for any reason, without the company's agreement, until 8 days have passed, counting the day you receive the contract document as day 1. You do this by sending the company a written notice, and a postcard is enough.

MIC lists fibre internet (including hikari collaboration lines), cable TV internet, internet provider contracts that are separate from the line, and the main mobile phone and mobile data services among the services covered. It applies however you signed up, in a shop, online or by phone, not just after a sales call.

If you use it, you still pay for what you used before cancelling, for installation work already done, and for the admin fee, and MIC notes that these are capped by law. Other cancellation penalties do not apply, even if the contract mentions them. Some mobile services, including home routers sold by NTT Docomo and KDDI, use a different system called a confirmation measure (確認措置) instead. Your contract document must say which rule applies and how to use it, so read it the day it arrives.

Contract terms and early cancellation fees

Many plans give a discount in exchange for staying a set period and then renew automatically. Leaving outside the free cancellation window can cost money. MIC tightened the rules for contracts signed from July 2022 (contracts with companies are excluded). Under those rules, when you cancel, the company can only charge:

fees for services you have already used;
an early cancellation fee of no more than one month's fee for the service;
the remaining part of the installation fee, reduced over the contract term (MIC's example: on a 24-month contract cancelled in month 10, the company can charge 15/24 of the installation fee);
line removal work: the full cost if you asked for it, or a reduced amount if the company required it;
rental equipment charges and some other set fees.

Older contracts signed before July 2022 were not covered at first. MIC changed this so that those contracts come under the rule when they renew from July 2025 onwards, and the exception ends completely at the end of June 2028. For contracts that renew automatically, companies must also send you a notice before the renewal, so watch for it if you plan to leave.

Home routers need extra care. MIC warns that most are sold on instalments that are offset by a monthly discount, so the router looks free. If you cancel the line before the instalments end, the remaining balance becomes payable, often as one large bill.

Sales calls and door-to-door sales

New residents get a lot of calls offering cheaper internet. The National Consumer Affairs Center reported in July 2026 that about 60% of fibre complaints involve phone sales, and that the number is rising. Common cases include callers who sound like your current provider but sign you up with a different company, false claims that your current service is ending, and options added without your knowledge.

A phone or door-to-door seller must tell you their name or company and that the call is a sales call before they start. If they do not, end the call.
A contract can be formed verbally. Do not agree on the day of the call; MIC also advises saying no clearly rather than giving a vague answer.
MIC says NTT East and NTT West never call to ask you to get a switching approval number (転用承諾番号). Treat that request as a red flag.
Phone sales should come with two documents: an explanation document and a contract document. Read both, and use the 8-day rule if needed.
If something goes wrong, call 188, the national consumer hotline, which connects you to your local consumer centre.

When you move out

Cancel with the company you actually signed with. If you have a bundled hikari collaboration plan, that is the company that sold you the bundle, not NTT. If you switch companies, you may also need to cancel your old provider separately, which can mean losing that provider's email address and paying its own cancellation fee.

Return rental equipment. With NTT East, when no visit is needed, it sends a return kit and you unplug, pack and send back the rental devices yourself, and leaving the line in place this way is free. Since April 2026, NTT East charges a removal fee when an engineer has to visit, either because you ask or because the building requires it: ¥13,200 for a house and ¥11,000 for an apartment when you apply through its website (¥14,300 and ¥12,100 otherwise, from July 2026). Ask your landlord whether the line should stay, and add internet to your moving list alongside electricity, gas and water and the moving-out notice.

Daruma and your internet contract

Daruma can help with the paperwork side. Scan the contract document or a bill from your provider and it explains it in plain English, and it can note the 8-day cancellation window and your renewal month as dates to watch. You can also ask it about your situation, for example what to say when the landlord asks about installation work.

Useful Japanese

光回線 (hikari kaisen): fibre line
プロバイダ (purobaida): internet provider (ISP)
開通工事 (kaitsū kōji): installation work
初期契約解除 (shoki keiyaku kaijo): initial contract cancellation (the 8-day rule)
違約金 (iyakukin): early cancellation fee

Where to confirm this

Guides are dated rather than undated: last reviewed 31 October 2026. This is an organisational aid, not legal or immigration advice — always confirm anything consequential with your ward office, the Immigration Services Agency, or a qualified professional.