Checked on 23 September 2026 against the Consumer Affairs Agency’s guide to the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and its 188 hotline pages, the National Consumer Affairs Center’s cooling-off page and leaflets for foreign residents, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ pages on initial contract cancellation, and the text of the law on e-Gov.
The short answer
- Japan’s cooling-off rule lets you cancel certain contracts with no reason and no penalty within a fixed number of days. It applies to foreign residents exactly as it does to Japanese people.
- You get 8 days for door-to-door and phone sales, and 20 days for multi-level marketing (MLM). Day 1 is the day you receive the contract document.
- Online shopping, buying in a shop and renting a flat have no cooling-off. Online, the shop’s return policy decides.
- Phone and internet contracts have their own 8-day rule, “initial contract cancellation”, and it works even if you signed in a shop. Docomo, au and SoftBank use a narrower version.
- Cancel by postcard or email. Sending it on day 8 is in time. If you are stuck, call the consumer hotline, 188.
Knowing this, you can tell within the 8 days whether a contract you regret can still be undone, and undo it with one postcard, instead of assuming a signature means you have to pay.
Day three in your new flat. The doorbell rings. A man in work clothes says the whole building is switching electricity company and asks to see your meter-reading slip. You sign something you do not fully follow. Next month the bill is higher than before. You ask a Japanese friend whether you can cancel. “There’s a cooling-off thing… how many days was it?” Nobody is sure. The contract was in Japanese, and so is the paperwork, so it pays to know the days and the steps before you need them.
- What is the cooling-off period in Japan? 8 days, or 20 for MLM
- What can’t you cancel? Online shopping, shops and flats
- When do the 8 days start? Day 1 is the day you get the document
- How to cancel: a postcard or an email, with proof
- How much does cancelling cost?
- Can I cancel a phone or internet contract? The 8-day initial cancellation
- I’m 18 or 19. Can I cancel because I’m a minor?
- What contract problems do foreign residents run into?
- What if the 8 days have passed?
- What is the 188 consumer hotline, and does it speak English?
- Which one are you?
- FAQ
- Summary
- Related reading
What is the cooling-off period in Japan? 8 days, or 20 for MLM
Cooling-off (kuringu ofu) comes from the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions. After you apply for or sign a contract, you can cancel it unconditionally within a set period from the day you receive the legally required document (Consumer Affairs Agency). The period depends on how you were sold to.
| How you were sold to | Period |
|---|---|
| Door-to-door sales (someone came to your home; this also covers being stopped in the street and taken to a shop, or being called in by SNS without being told it was a sales pitch) | 8 days |
| Phone sales (including when you applied later, after hanging up) | 8 days |
| Beauty salons, cosmetic medical treatment, language schools, home tutors, cram schools, computer classes, marriage agencies | 8 days |
| A dealer comes to your home to buy your things | 8 days |
| Multi-level marketing (MLM) | 20 days |
| “We’ll give you work” schemes that first make you buy materials or equipment | 20 days |
MLM means being told you will earn by recruiting people, buying products or a membership, and then being asked to recruit the next person. The 20 days cover people who join as individuals without their own shop.
Once you cool off, the seller cannot charge a penalty or damages. They collect the goods at their own cost and refund what you paid. For door-to-door sales, you do not pay for goods you have already used. The exceptions: consumables such as health foods or cosmetics that you have used, and cash deals under 3,000 yen in total (Consumer Affairs Agency).
What can’t you cancel? Online shopping, shops and flats
The Consumer Affairs Agency’s leaflet singles out one mix-up: online shopping. Online shopping (mail order) has no cooling-off in Japan. The shop’s return policy applies instead.
- If the site states return conditions, those conditions apply. “No returns” means you cannot send it back just because you changed your mind
- If the site says nothing, you can return the item within 8 days of receiving it, counting that day. You pay the return shipping
Shops must show their return conditions on the final confirmation screen before you place the order. A screenshot of that screen is worth keeping.
The Agency also lists buying in a shop, buying for business, renting a flat and buying a car as cases with no cooling-off. Once you sign a lease, “I changed my mind” does not work, so read how move-in costs and guarantor companies work before you sign.
When do the 8 days start? Day 1 is the day you get the document
The count does not start on the day you signed. It starts on the day you received the legally required document (the application form or the contract, whichever came first), and that day is day 1. Receive it on 1 September, and day 8 is 8 September.
And your notice takes effect on the day you send it (Act on Specified Commercial Transactions, Article 9(2)). Post it on day 8 and you are in time, even if it reaches the seller on day 9 or later.
For MLM, if you received the goods you were meant to resell after the document, the 20 days run from that delivery. For phones and internet, if the service started after you got the document, the start date is day 1.
How to cancel: a postcard or an email, with proof
You can do this yourself. The seller does not have to agree. Send it in writing (a postcard is fine) or electronically, which since 1 June 2022 includes email, the seller’s cancellation form, a USB stick and fax. Write it in Japanese if you can. The postcard needs these points.
通知書（Notice）
次の契約を解除します。（I cancel the following contract.）
契約年月日（Contract date）：2026年9月1日
商品名（Product）：…
契約金額（Amount）：…円
販売会社（Company）：… 担当者（Salesperson）：…
支払ったお金を返金し、商品を引き取ってください。（Refund what I paid and collect the goods.）
2026年9月5日（Date sent）
（Your address and name）
Copy both sides of the postcard first. At the post office, send it by tokutei kiroku (recorded mail) or kan’i kakitome (simple registered mail), addressed to the company’s representative. That way, if they say it never arrived, you can prove the date you sent it (National Consumer Affairs Center).
For email, use the address and method written in your contract document. Put in the same points, then keep the sent email, or a screenshot if you used a web form. If you dealt with the seller over SNS when you signed, the Consumer Affairs Agency’s view is that a clause refusing notice by SNS is invalid.
If you paid by credit card or instalments, notify the seller and the credit company at the same time. How card payments work is in the credit card guide. Keep the proof of sending and the papers for at least five years.
How much does cancelling cost?
| How you cancel | What you pay |
|---|---|
| Cooling-off | Just the postcard and postage. No penalty, no return shipping, nothing for what you used |
| Online return (no return policy on the site) | Return shipping |
| Initial cancellation of a phone or internet contract | Usage up to cancellation (pro rata), an admin fee (around 3,300 yen), a SIM issue fee for budget SIMs (around 3,300 yen), fibre installation work (up to 27,500 yen, more on holidays), a number-transfer fee if done in a shop or by phone (up to 1,100 yen) |
The ministry sets the ceilings for these costs, and a carrier cannot charge above them.
Can I cancel a phone or internet contract? The 8-day initial cancellation
Phone and fibre contracts come under the Telecommunications Business Act’s “initial contract cancellation” (shoki keiyaku kaijo). Within 8 days of receiving the contract document, you can cancel for your own reasons. Even if the contract has a fee for leaving within two years, you do not pay it (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications).
The big difference from cooling-off: it applies even if you signed in a shop. It covers the major mobile carriers, budget SIMs with a voice plan, fibre and cable-TV internet. Prepaid SIMs, budget data-only SIMs with no minimum term and public Wi-Fi are not covered.
Docomo (including ahamo), au, UQ mobile and SoftBank (including Y!mobile and LINEMO) use “confirmation measures” instead. Under those, you can cancel, handset included, only in cases such as poor signal or an inadequate explanation.
Even with initial cancellation, the handset purchase often cannot be cancelled, the ministry warns. Send the cancellation in writing (a postcard is fine); it takes effect when you send it. Do not rely on a phone call alone. The contract document must state which rule applies to you. For a SIM with no cancellation fee, compare the best SIMs for foreigners.
I’m 18 or 19. Can I cancel because I’m a minor?
Since 1 April 2022, adulthood in Japan starts at 18, not 20. At 18 and 19 you can sign a lease or a credit contract without a parent, and you lost the right to cancel a contract as a minor (Consumer Affairs Agency).
For foreign nationals, adulthood is in principle set by the law of your nationality. But if your home law treats you as a minor while Japanese law treats you as an adult, a contract made in Japan with a party in Japan treats you as an adult (Act on General Rules for Application of Laws, Article 4(2)). If adulthood is 21 at home, “I was a minor” still will not work in Japan once you are 18. The cooling-off days are the same at any age.
What contract problems do foreign residents run into?
The National Consumer Affairs Center publishes leaflets for foreign residents in English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Tagalog and more. They cover these six problems.
- Electricity switching — someone at the door says the whole building is changing supplier, or that the management company sent them. The leaflet calls both lies and says it often happens right after people move in. Do not show your meter-reading slip. A contract signed at your door can be cooled off within 8 days.
- Smartphone bundles — a shop says internet or electricity bundled with your phone will be cheaper, and it is not. That was a shop contract, so check initial cancellation for the line.
- Subscriptions — you ordered a “trial” online and it turned out to be a subscription. Check the site’s return policy.
- Toilet repairs — a company you found in a hurry charges far more than expected.
- Used cars — car contracts have no cooling-off.
- Moving in and out of a flat — leases have no cooling-off either.
Choosing your electricity and gas company is part of the order of paperwork when you move. Once you have picked one, there is no reason to show your slip to someone at the door. When you move out, knowing the rules on restoring the flat stops you overpaying from your deposit.
What if the 8 days have passed?
- The seller lied that you could not cancel or pressured you, the document was missing required items, or you never got a document — you may still be able to cool off
- In a door-to-door sale you were told something untrue or something important was hidden — you can rescind the contract within 1 year of realising and 5 years of signing (Act on Specified Commercial Transactions, Article 9-3). Shop contracts can sometimes be rescinded under the Consumer Contract Act
- A door-to-door seller sold you far more than a normal person needs — you can cancel within 1 year of the contract
Working out which applies is hard alone, so take the contract and your messages to a consumer affairs centre. The same centre helps if your landlord wants to raise the rent.
What is the 188 consumer hotline, and does it speak English?
188 is a nationwide number that connects you to your nearest consumer affairs centre. Advice is free, but you pay for the call (11 yen per 20 seconds from a mobile, even on an unlimited-call plan). The recorded guidance is in Japanese: press 1 if you know your postcode, enter the 7 digits, and you are put through to a local centre.
There are 847 consumer affairs centres (as of 1 April 2025), and every city, town and village has a consultation desk. If the line is busy, the National Consumer Affairs Center’s back-up line is 03-3446-0999 (weekdays 10:00–16:00). Some IP phones and prepaid mobiles cannot call 188, so find your local centre on the Center’s list and call it directly.
Language support depends on where you live. According to the Consumer Affairs Agency, 31 prefectures and 460 municipalities had set up interpreter support as of 1 April 2022. When you get through, ask first whether an interpreter is available; if not, call back with someone who speaks Japanese.
Which one are you?
- You signed at your door or after a sales call, and it is within 8 days of getting the document — today, write the date, product, amount and company on a postcard, copy both sides, and send it by recorded or registered mail. If you paid by card, send one to the card company the same day.
- You signed a phone or internet contract within the last 8 days — today, check the contract document for “initial cancellation” or “confirmation measures” and send your cancellation in writing. Ask the shop what happens to the handset.
- You want to return something you bought online — today, open the site’s return policy and check the deadline and shipping. If there is none, send it back within 8 days of receiving it.
- The 8 days have passed, or you cannot tell which rule applies — today, gather the contract and your messages and call 188.
FAQ
Q. What is the cooling-off period in Japan?
It is a set time after signing during which you can cancel certain contracts unconditionally. Door-to-door and phone sales get 8 days from receiving the document, and MLM gets 20 days. Foreign residents can use it too.
Q. Can I cancel online shopping with cooling-off in Japan?
No. The site’s return policy applies. If there is none, you can return the item within 8 days of receiving it, counting that day, and pay the shipping yourself.
Q. Can I cancel a phone contract in Japan?
Yes, within 8 days of receiving the contract document, through initial contract cancellation rather than cooling-off. It works even if you signed in a shop. Docomo, au and SoftBank use confirmation measures, which apply only in cases such as poor signal or an inadequate explanation.
Q. Can I send a cooling-off notice by email?
Yes. Since 1 June 2022 you can use email or the seller’s cancellation form. Keep the sent email or a screenshot.
Q. Is it too late if I send it on day 8?
No. The notice takes effect when you send it, so it is fine if it arrives on day 9 or later. Day 1 is the day you received the document.
Q. Can I get help from 188 in English?
It depends on the area. 188 connects you to your local consumer affairs centre, and whether an interpreter is available varies by centre. Ask about an interpreter first.
Summary
Cooling-off exists for sales where you had little time to think: someone at your door or on the phone. You get 8 days (20 for MLM), day 1 is the day you receive the document, and your notice counts from the day you send it. Online shopping, shop purchases and leases have no cooling-off.
Phones and home internet have initial contract cancellation, which works even for shop contracts. Whatever the rule, start by reading the contract document. If the 8 days are over or you cannot decide, gather your papers and call 188.
Official sources: Consumer Affairs Agency, Act on Specified Commercial Transactions guide (Japanese) / CAA Q&A on electronic cooling-off notices / National Consumer Affairs Center, Cooling-off / NCAC leaflets for foreign residents (multilingual) / Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Initial contract cancellation / MIC, Confirmation measures / CAA, Consumer hotline 188 / CAA, Adults at 18 / e-Gov, Act on Specified Commercial Transactions. Checked on 23 September 2026. Whether your contract qualifies is decided by its document; check with a consumer affairs centre.
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