Rule card · Japan
Keep your docomo number active while abroad
Keep a docomo number active abroad: calls stop when you apply. docomo stores it for up to 6 years from the 1st of next month, at 440 yen a month tax included.
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 storage does not start on its own. It starts when you apply for 電話番号保管: up to 6 years from the 1st of the next month, and the contract ends on the 1st of the month after that. Calls and communications stop when you apply.
- Cheapest way to hold it
- 440 yen a month (税込) for the number. Mail address storage is another 110 yen a month (税込).
- Roaming needed to receive codes abroad
- Unverified (The page says calls and communications stop at application. It does not use the word SMS.)
- Twelve months away, roughly
- 440 yen a month tax included for the number, and 110 yen a month tax included if the mail address is stored. The application fee sits outside that pair.
Keep a docomo number active abroad by applying for 電話番号保管 before you leave. Calls and communications stop when the application goes through. docomo's storage period starts on the 1st of the next month and runs for up to 6 years.
Calls and communications stop when you apply
docomo's storage page, checked 3 October 2026, states: "「電話番号保管」はお申込みをされた時点で、通話・通信のご利用ができなくなります。" Calls and communications become unavailable at the moment you apply. The sentence just before that one says you cannot book the storage in advance. If you want the number stored around the day you fly, the application has to be in before you go.
Six years from the 1st of the next month
docomo's storage period, for the number and for the mail address, runs from the 1st of the month after you apply, for up to 6 years. When that period is over, the 5G/Xi contract ends on the 1st of the following month. The Japan page sets that end date next to au and SoftBank. au and SoftBank both print 5 years, and they do not end on docomo's day.
The page describes the product as storage of a 5G/Xi phone number and an sp-mode mail address, so you can use them again after you return. docomo's monthly row prints 440 yen (税込) for the number.
docomo's 440 yen is the number, not the whole bill
The same page states: "「ドコモオンライン手続き」でお申込みの場合は1,100円（税込）です。" Applying through docomo's online procedure costs 1,100 yen, tax included. The shop application fee printed beside it is 4,950 yen (税込). During storage docomo prints 440 yen a month (税込) for the number, and storing the mail address is another 110 yen a month (税込).
au's suspension is the 5-year hold that names SMS and says it cannot be used. The options page is where holding sits next to parking, porting or letting the number go.