Area Code 236 – Yamagata, Yamagata

Overview of Area Code 236

Area code 236 is a geographic National Destination Code (NDC) within the Japanese numbering plan, assigned to the Yamagata City area in Yamagata Prefecture, located in the Tohoku region of Honshu, Japan. This code serves the prefectural capital and its surrounding municipalities, including parts of the Mogami and Murayama regions. The service area encompasses Yamagata City, along with nearby towns such as Tendō, Kaminoyama, and parts of Higashine, providing fixed-line telephony services to residential, business, and government subscribers.

Dialing Formats

When calling a Yamagata landline from within Japan, subscribers must dial the national trunk prefix 0, followed by the area code 236, and then the subscriber number, which is typically six digits in length (e.g., 0-236-XX-XXXX). For international callers, the format is +81 236 XX XXXX, omitting the leading zero. It is important to note that the area code is an integral part of the full national number and cannot be omitted when dialing from outside the region.

Geographic Coverage and Administration

The 236 area code is administered by NTT East (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation), the regional incumbent carrier. The coverage area is defined by the Yamagata City telephone exchange boundaries, which include both urban and rural zones. As Yamagata is the capital, the area code supports a mix of residential, commercial, and public services, including government offices, hospitals, and educational institutions. The region is known for its agricultural produce, particularly cherries and rice, and for tourism attractions such as Yamadera Temple and Zao Onsen.

Overlay and Numbering Considerations

Currently, there is no overlay code for the Yamagata area; 236 remains the sole geographic code for this region. However, as with all Japanese geographic codes, the number of available lines is finite, and future exhaustion could lead to the introduction of an overlay or a new area code. Subscribers in the 236 area can dial local calls without the area code within the same exchange, but for calls to other areas, the full national format is required.

Caller Instructions

For local callers within Yamagata City, dialing the six-digit subscriber number alone may suffice for calls within the same exchange, but for calls from outside the area code, the full national number (0-236-XX-XXXX) is mandatory. International callers should use the country code +81, followed by the area code without the leading zero, and the subscriber number. It is advisable to check with your service provider for any special dialing requirements, especially when calling from mobile or VoIP networks.