Rule card · Japan
Keep your au number active while abroad
Keep an au number active abroad: 5 years at 409 yen a month tax included. Phone, mail and SMS cannot be used during the hold.
Checked against official pages on October 3, 2026. Rules move; when this one does, it goes on the changelog.
Rule at a glance
postpaid accounts only- If you do nothing
- This hold does not start on its own. It starts when you apply for 一時休止: maximum 5 years, with the next month as month 1, and the contract ends when the storage period expires. Phone, mail and SMS cannot be used during the hold.
- Cheapest way to hold it
- 409 yen a month (税込) in the intro sentence, plus a universal service fee and a telephone relay fee this page does not price.
- Roaming needed to receive codes abroad
- Unverified (During the hold the page says SMS cannot be used. That is the suspension, not a roaming switch.)
- Twelve months away, roughly
- 409 yen a month tax included in the intro sentence, plus a universal service fee and a telephone relay fee this page does not price.
Keep an au number active abroad by applying for 一時休止 before you leave. The page stores the phone number and the mail address for a maximum of 5 years, at 409 yen a month, tax included, in the intro sentence. The contract ends when that storage period expires.
The hold ends when the period expires
au's suspension page, checked 3 October 2026, states: "au電話番号およびauメールアドレス（@au.com／@ezweb.ne.jp）は一時休止お申し込みの翌月を1カ月目として5年後まで保管いたします。保管期間が満了した時点で契約は解除され、au電話番号とEメールアドレスのご利用はできなくなります。" The number and the au mail address are kept until 5 years after the application, counting the next month as month 1. When the storage period expires, the contract ends, and the number and the email address can no longer be used. SoftBank also prints 5 years, and its contract ends on the last day of month 60, not at the moment of expiry.
Phone, mail and SMS stop during the hold
The same page states: "一時休止中は電話、ネット、メール、SMS、電話回線およびネットワークに接続が必要なサービスはご利用できません。" During the hold you cannot use the phone, the internet, mail, SMS, or a service that needs the line or the network. The Japan page leaves SoftBank's calls and texts unlabeled, because that page does not print this sentence.
The 409 yen keeps the address
au's page states: "一時休止のお申し込みにより、KDDIのメールサーバに保存されている送受信メールのデータは削除されます。削除されたデータは復元できません。" Applying deletes mail already stored on KDDI's mail server, sent and received, and the deleted data cannot be restored. The following sentence asks you to forward anything you still need before you apply. The 409 yen stores the mail address. It does not keep the messages that were in the mailbox.
The intro sentence prices that storage at 409 yen a month, tax included. The fee block prints a handling charge of 4,950 yen, or 3,850 yen when you use My au, and a monthly information-storage charge of 409 yen without repeating 税込. A universal service fee and a telephone relay service fee are added every month. The page does not print what those two fees cost.
UQ mobile is named, and it is not this product
The same page states: "UQ mobileについては、一時休止・再利用を提供しておりません。" In English, the page says UQ mobile does not offer 一時休止・再利用. The sentence names UQ mobile, and it stops there. docomo's 6-year storage is a different carrier's product.