Hi, We're leaving Japan. Does anybody know the process for selling an NTT phone line? Any advice? Thanks for any help in advance.
Khris

Hi Khris,
I know that when I bought my line from an ad in the metropolis I went with the owner to the NTT main office in Shinjuku to change the name over. Take ID etc with you. The only problem is paying the bill that is outstanding. The person who buys it from you will have to trust that you will pay up the final month. I think there is a small connection fee for the new owner. They just tell NTT their address and then the phone is reconnected to that address. You may need to find someone who speaks English at NTT, maybe you can call first and see if there is an English speaking staff there. Bon Voyage!

The transfer free is Y840 yen I think. There is only one NTT office still open in Tokyo and it is the one in Shinjuku (west exit of JR plus about 6 minutes walk. They are open until 5 pm).

As for selling your NTT line, these days you can get around Y25,000 - 30,000 if you are not in a hurry, and you are flexible about when to give up your line. You can also do it by mail! This entails getting paid via bank transfer and some trust, etc. The seller sends the form with his signature and a copy of his foreigner registration card to the buyer, and the buyer takes the paperwork down to the NTT office and completes everything. I sold a phone line to a lady in Kyushu this way (I live in Tokyo). The current system of "owning rights" to a line is being abolished, though I'm not clear on the dates. I heard that some large companies with very high numbers of phone lines are going to court against NTT because their phone lines (recorded as assetts with "x" value) have just lost most if not all of their value (the price was originally around Y70,000 per line). I don't know how the outcome of these court cases will effect the private line-holders who only hold one or two lines.