A Look into NaviDial, Japan's Legacy Phone Service

Earlier this year, TokyoDev founder Paul was at his local library when noticed a poster for a “Foreign Language Human Rights Hotline.” He was pleased to see that—until he noticed the phone number printed on the poster. It started with the number 0570.

That may not sound like much, but it adds up to 1980 yen per hour, which is significantly higher than Japan’s average minimum wage of 1064 yen. This means 0570 numbers can be a financial burden for those people who need help the most.

If you live in Japan, you’ve almost certainly run into 0570 numbers before. They’re typically used on customer support pages for banks, airlines, utility companies, etc. As Paul discovered, they’re also sometimes used on posters advertising services for people in need.

What’s the story behind these pricey 0570 numbers? Why are they so widespread, and why were they adopted in the first place? Most importantly, if you need to call one, how can you avoid racking up a huge phone bill?

History: From FreeDial to NaviDial

The service behind these 0570 numbers is called NaviDial. To understand it better, we first need to understand its older sibling, FreeDial.

Toll-free calls in the 1980s

For many decades, Japan’s telephone infrastructure was run by a state-owned monopoly called Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation. In 1985, it was privatized and became the NTT that we know today. Later that year, NTT launched FreeDial, their service that uses the 0120 prefix.

With a normal phone call, you simply dial a number and get routed to a fixed physical terminal—nothing more, nothing less. When you call a 0120 number, it accesses NTT’s Intelligent Network, which intercepts and routes the call before connecting you. The routing is based on factors like your area code, the time of day, or how busy the lines are.

FreeDial was a hit, and for good reason. The technology behind it was genuinely impressive for 1985, and it gives businesses several practical benefits like a single national number, geographic routing, load balancing, and queue management.

This was a big deal for large companies with offices scattered around the country. Businesses operating during the mid-80s economic bubble had the cash and were more than happy to cover the cost of customer calls. Having a 0120 number came with a bit of prestige too.

Enter NaviDial

The 1990s marked the start of the Lost Decades. Companies no longer had the same financial means, and wanted to cut costs without giving up the technology they had become accustomed to. NaviDial (0570) was the solution where the caller pays for the call.

For companies trying to reduce expenses, it was perfect. They could continue using the same technology as before, and keep the NTT branding. NaviDial also had the added benefit of reducing the total number of incoming calls by discouraging complaints and spam.

The problem for consumers

The “caller pays for the call” rule has negative consequences. You are paying for the entire duration of the session, including the time you are on hold. While landline rates are reasonable, mobile rates are 11 yen per 20 seconds—over ten times more. If you wait 20 minutes for an operator, that’s 660 yen before you’ve even spoken to a human.

Furthermore, mobile plans with unlimited calling do not cover NaviDial calls. NTT sets the rates, and mobile carriers can’t include it in their plans. This creates a paywall even for essential public services like suicide prevention hotlines or gas leak reporting.

Why is NaviDial still around?

Despite modern alternatives like Twilio or open-source solutions like Asterisk, Japanese companies haven't switched due to inertia and a conservative enterprise culture. Systems built over decades are hard to replace, and large enterprises prefer the accountability and support provided by a massive vendor like NTT.