NTT East and NTT West will end the provision of telephone directories (such as Town Pages) and directory assistance (104) at the end of March 2026. They will continue to provide the “Braille Telephone Directory” for the visually impaired. They will also continue to provide the “Fureai Guide” which provides telephone numbers to people with disabilities free of charge.
Telephone directories are published every 18 months in each region of the country as booklets for searching telephone numbers, and list the telephone numbers of companies by type of business. They also contain advertisements that explain the services they provide and their business hours.
Directory assistance is a service that answers telephone numbers by voice to users who call 104, and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you are able to search for a telephone number from a name and address, it will cost between 66 and 165 yen per information depending on the number of times you use it per month and the time of use.

Telephone directories and directory assistance have a long history, both of which began in 1890 (Meiji 23). The end of the service in March 2026 will bring a close to 135 years of history.

Japan’s first telephone directory was published on a single sheet of paper called the “Telephone Subscriber Name List” at the same time as the telephone was launched. It listed 197 subscribers vertically in the order of their telephone numbers. In 1971 (Showa 46), the booklet was renamed “Telephone Directory,” the current service name, and publication began by occupation and alphabetical order. In 1983 (Showa 58), the current nicknames of Town Pages and Hello Pages were adopted (Hello Pages, which listed telephone numbers alphabetically, will end with the publication in February 2023).

The number information service was also provided to 197 subscribers. In 1953 (Showa 28), the local number information service 104 was introduced. At that time, operators used paper telephone book to look up telephone numbers.

Computer-based information services began in 1986 (Showa 61), and in 1989 (Heisei 1), telephone numbers nationwide could be provided by calling 104.

Looking at the trend in the number of advertisements in telephone directories, it has decreased significantly over the past 20 to 30 years. From fiscal 2000 to fiscal 2023, it has fallen by 94%.
Regarding the trend in the number of uses of the directory assistance, the peak was 1.28 billion times in 1989, but by fiscal 2023, it has fallen by 99%.
Noriaki Tanemura, head of the infrastructure services department at the Service Sales Promotion Headquarters of NTT East Japan, said, “The reason for the large drop in usage is that with the spread of smartphones, the methods of searching for telephone numbers have diversified, and more people are searching online rather than looking up telephone numbers in a paper telephone directory.”
It is against this background that the decision was made to end the telephone directory and directory assistance.
The current Town Pages will be published for the last time in December 2024. The issues from January 2025 to March 2026 will be the final edition of the Town Pages, changing the current publication format. Specifically, the publication of the paper version of the Town Pages, which previously listed all 1,900 occupational classifications, will be discontinued, and the Town Pages Web version will be available online, in the form of images that can be viewed as if turning the pages of a paper. A paper version of the telephone directory will be published and distributed to those who request it, containing 177 industries, including occupations with high urgency and those with high usage. Details will be provided on the back of NTT East and West bills, etc. Even after the telephone directory and number guide service is discontinued, telephone numbers can still be looked up on i-Town Page, provided by NTT Town Pages. i-Town Pages includes the contents of Town Pages from all over the country, and allows users to search for stores and facilities by keyword or area. i-Town Pages will be renewed this fall. NTT Town Pages Managing Director Hiroyuki Misumi explains, “We plan to renew it in October. We will revise the design, such as displaying the information in larger letters, with consideration for elderly people who are not familiar with smartphones and the Internet. We will also provide useful information for daily life and local government information. i-Town Pages will be developed as a comprehensive life portal service, rather than an Internet version of the telephone directory.” The company says it will not provide a service to provide personal phone numbers.

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