When you move in, first of all you need to contact utility companies to start using their services.
Electricity - Kansai Electric Power (Kanden or Kepco)
http://www1.kepco.co.jp/english/guide/index.html
To contact your local Kanden office, look for the envelop placed near the breaker or meter in your home. It has your customer number and office telephone number.
Business hours: Mon-Fri 9：00-17：00
Gas - Osaka Gas: http://www.osakagas.co.jp/en/index.html
【Customer Service Center】Tel:0120-0-94817 Mon-Sat 9：00-19：00 Sunday/Holidays 9：00-17：00
Water - Each area has a seperate service provider
Osaka city water: http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu030/english/
【Customer Service Center】Tel：06-6458-1132 Mon-Fri 8：00-20：00
Higashi Osaka city water: http://www.city.higashiosaka.lg.jp/category/12-0-0-0-0.html
To contact to your local office, fill out the
form "Water Service Application (postcard)" which was
left in a plastic bag near the entrance and return the card via
postal mail.
【Customer Service Center】Tel：06-6724-1221 Mon-Fri:
Sakai city water: http://water.city.sakai.lg.jp/foreign/index_en.html
【Customer Service Center】Tel：072-251-1132 Mon-Fri: 8:45-19:00 Saturdays, Sundays and holidays: 9:00-17:00 (Closed Jan. 1st to 3rd)
Kobe city water: http://www.city.kobe.lg.jp/foreign/english/index.html
To contact to your local office, fill out the
form "Water Service Application (postcard)" which was
left in a plastic bag near the entrance and return the card via
postal mail.
【Customer Service Center】Tel：078-341-5451 Mon-Fri (except holiday) 9：00-17：15
for Chuo-ku, please check the telephone number from following site for other regions.
*They may visit your home to start the service. On a certain day each
month, your meter is checked and a notification of usage is left in your mail box.
Then they send the bill to your address a few days later. You can pay it at the bank, post
office or convenience store. Also you can arrange to pay it with your credit card or
Japanese bank account when you fill out the application form.
Telephone - NTT West
http://www.ntt-west.co.jp/english/
Call the NTT West Service Center (116) or use the NTT Internet Reservation Service to apply.
* For English, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean interpretation
call
NTT WEST Information (Tel. 0120-064-337 Toll free)
(Monday-Saturday) 9am to 5pm
Most
houses and apartments already have a line installed so you just need
to contact them to get a telephone number. If your
apartment/house doesn't have telephone line, you need to make an
appointment for installation.
They send a bill every month to your address. You can pay it at the bank, post office or convenience store. Also you
can arrange to pay it with your credit card or Japanese bank account when you fill
out the application form.
Mobile phone:
Softbank: http://www.softbank.jp/mobile/customer/
AU: http://www.au.kddi.com/
Docomo: http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/
You
need to go to the shop to purchase a mobile phone. You need to show
several forms of ID and credit card/cash card or your Japanese bank account
details.
1. Japanese driver's licence
2. Passport
3. Japanese health cover card
4. Japanese resident card
5. Credit card or bank book
I recommend you to take several IDs with you because each company has a slightly different rules to confirm your ID's in Japan.
Their payment will be charged to your credit card or your Japanese bank account.
You need to aware that it may take quite long time (like 2 hours) to complete the whole process.
Home Internet:
NTT Flet's Hikari: http://flets-w.com/english/
Usen: http://www.usen.com/index.html
Zaq: http://zaq.ne.jp/
and others
Please
check which internet line has been installed at your apartment/house.
If it's already installed, you just need to apply for the internet
account. If it is not installed yet, you need to make an appointment for
the installation. You might need to wait for a few days in that case.
Instead
of applying broadband at home, you can apply for wireless internet at
the major appliance store such as Bic Camera, Yodobashi Camere, Yamada
denki.
TV:
J-com: http://www.jcom.co.jp/pack.html
Skyperfect: http://www.skyperfectv.co.jp/osusume_pack/basic/
If
you want to get a special TV package to watch English/foreign
language TV programs, you can apply for J-com (CATV), eo Hikari,
Skyperfect, or Wow wow etc. They usually lease the tuner (You need to
return when you cancel the service) to watch their TV programs. Depending on your apartment, you may need to have a satellite
dish to receive their signal.
Osaka Living Guide
http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu020/enjoy/en/services/index_en.html
Kobe Living Guide
http://www.kicc.jp/kicc/guide/water/index_eng.html
