Leaving Japan: Cancelling Rakuten Mobile and Paying Your Final Bill

Before you cancel: five things to check

These checks are my own suggestions, based on the fact that your number stops working as soon as you cancel.

1. Services that use your Japanese number. Banks, card companies and other accounts may send login codes to your number by SMS. Change the phone number or verification method on those accounts before you cancel.
2. Your email and Rakuten ID. Rakuten Mobile can send the one-time password for cancelling to your registered email, and it sends the cancellation confirmation there too. Make sure you can still get into that email and your Rakuten ID. Never give your password to anyone else.
3. The line you are cancelling. If you have more than one Rakuten Mobile line, check that my Rakuten Mobile is showing the right phone number. Rakuten Mobile says it shows your most recently contracted number by default.
4. How you will pay. Your final bills arrive after you cancel. Check that your payment method will still work then. See arrange payment before you leave.
5. Other charges. Check for phone installments, device protection services and family members’ lines that you pay for.

Choose a time to cancel when losing your mobile number will not cause you problems. You do not have to wait until the airport.

How to cancel Rakuten Mobile

Rakuten Mobile describes these steps for the web version of my Rakuten Mobile. The Japanese labels come from its guide; the English next to them is my explanation, not necessarily the wording on the English screens.

1. Open 契約プラン (contract plan) in my Rakuten Mobile.
2. Under その他のお手続き (other procedures), tap 各種手続きへ進む (go to procedures). Check the phone number shown.
3. Under 解約のお手続き (cancellation), tap 解約 (cancel).
4. Read the notes. If you have device protection services, choose whether to keep each one. Rakuten Mobile says you cannot rejoin once you cancel one.
5. Agree to the notes, answer the survey and review your cancellation.
6. Enter the one-time password, sent to your registered email or by SMS to your Rakuten Mobile number, and tap 認証する (authenticate).
7. Tap 解約を完了する (complete cancellation).

When it is done, the screen shows 回線の解約手続き完了 (line cancellation completed), and Rakuten Mobile emails you a cancellation notice. Keep that email.

In the Rakuten Link app the route is different: from the bottom menu, 各種手続き (procedures), then 回線のお手続き (line procedures), then 回線の解約 (cancel line). Follow Rakuten Mobile’s cancellation guide (Japanese) for the app. Rakuten Mobile also says you can cancel at a Rakuten Mobile shop; see our shop guide if you want to go in person.

Keeping your number with another Japanese carrier? Do not cancel. Moving your number out (MNP) is a separate procedure, shown as 他社へのお乗り換え（MNP） in the same menu. Cancelling first ends the number.

Sources: How to cancel (Japanese) · About cancellation (Japanese)

When your number stops working

Rakuten Mobile says a cancelled number stops working immediately. Callers cannot get through, or hear an automated message. It also says a cancellation cannot be withdrawn, and a cancelled line cannot be restarted.

• Removing the SIM card or deleting the eSIM does not cancel your contract. Only the cancellation procedure ends it.
• Cancelling your line and closing your Rakuten account are separate. This guide covers only the mobile line.

Source: When a cancelled number stops working (Japanese)

Cancellation-month charges and cancellation fees

Cancellation fee: if you applied for and started your line on or after April 1, 2025, and cancel within one year of starting it, Rakuten Mobile charges a cancellation fee. It is up to ¥1,078 for the Rakuten SAIKYO Plan and ¥1,100 for Rakuten SAIKYO U-NEXT, tax included. It can differ under some discount programs, and if you changed plans, the start date of your earlier line counts. After one year, there is no cancellation fee.

Rakuten Mobile’s example: a line cancelled within its first year, mid-month, after using 2GB is billed ¥2,156, made up of the ¥1,078 plan charge and the ¥1,078 cancellation fee.

No cancellation fee does not mean nothing is left to pay. Usage charges and phone installments still have to be paid. Cancellation is also different from the initial contract cancellation system (初期契約解除), which is not covered here.

Sources: Charges in the cancellation month (Japanese) · Cancellation fees (Japanese)

When your final payments arrive

Usage from the 1st of the month to your cancellation date is billed the following month. The date depends on your payment method.

Example: if you cancel in October, October’s usage is billed in November. If a cancellation fee applies, it is billed in December. With a credit card, the actual withdrawal from your bank can come later, depending on your card company.

Phone installments and some other charges can continue after that. See why charges may continue. For how billing and withdrawals work in general, see your Rakuten Mobile bill and payment dates.

Sources: Billing after cancellation (Japanese) · Billing and payment dates (Japanese)

Arrange payment before you leave Japan

Rakuten Mobile warns foreign residents that Japanese cards and bank accounts may stop working after your period of stay ends. Check with your bank and card company, and arrange a payment method that will be valid when your final bills arrive.

• If you have a card issued outside Japan that Rakuten Mobile accepts: Rakuten Mobile asks you to switch your payment method to it by the end of the month in which you cancel. You can change it in my Rakuten Mobile.
• If you have no card you can use: Rakuten Mobile describes paying by a convenience store payment slip (a postcard) at a store in Japan, and asks you to arrange for someone you know in Japan to pay it for you. When you cancel, change your billing address in my Rakuten Mobile to an address in Japan where the slip can be received.

Asking someone to pay a slip for you is not the same as giving them access to your account. Do not share your Rakuten ID or password. If you are unsure which option applies to you, ask Rakuten Mobile before you leave.

Rakuten Mobile also warns that unpaid charges can lead to the line being suspended and the contract being terminated, and that you still have to pay after termination. It says unpaid bills can also affect new contracts with other carriers.

This section is about paying your final bills. Whether a card issued outside Japan can be used for a new application is a different question: see Rakuten Mobile payment methods.

Source: Payment guide for foreign residents (Japanese)

Why charges may continue after cancellation

• Phone installments. If you bought a phone from Rakuten Mobile in installments, the remaining installments continue. Rakuten Mobile says these installments are run through your credit card company, so ask your card company about the remaining balance.
• Device protection and some programs. Rakuten Mobile lists device protection services, such as スマホ交換保証プラス, and its phone upgrade program as options that are not cancelled automatically with your line. During cancellation you may be asked whether to keep device protection; if you keep it, cancel it separately later if you no longer need it.
• Other people’s lines. If you pay for family members’ lines with the same payment method, their charges continue until those lines are cancelled or moved to another payment method.

If you see a charge you do not recognize, check the statement, the phone number and the usage month, then contact Rakuten Mobile. A charge after cancellation is not always correct, so do not assume either way.

Sources: Billing after cancellation (Japanese) · How to cancel (Japanese)

Questions before and after leaving Japan

Ready to cancel?

Check the five points at the top of this page, then follow Rakuten Mobile’s official steps.

Open Rakuten Mobile’s cancellation guide (Japanese)