Published September 14, 2026 — NCAC opens a website guiding you to the right consumer help desk
On September 14, 2026, Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency (Local Cooperation Division) posted a notice announcing that the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan (NCAC) had launched a website called "Consumer Trouble Navi." It is hosted on the Agency's consumer portal, consumer.go.jp (https://www.consumer.go.jp/pio?id=pio_top). Until now, consumer advice in Japan has been reached through several separate entry points: local consumer affairs centers run by municipalities, the three-digit Consumer Hotline "188," and the NCAC's "Consumer Trouble FAQ." Because these entrances are separate, a person facing a problem had to work out on their own which desk fit their case. The new site is published as a way to trace that entry point online. The Agency's notice itself gives only the fact of publication and the related link — no feature list or usage conditions are included. Check the published page above for the menus and scope actually available. There has been no announcement that the 188 phone line or municipal consumer centers are being discontinued; they remain usable alongside the new site.
For consumer trouble, the first obstacle is usually not the damage itself but not knowing where and under which system to seek advice. Anxiety about phoning in Japanese, being unable to visit a city office during working hours, or simply not knowing that municipal consumer affairs centers exist — these push foreign residents into giving up on smaller losses. A site that lets you trace the entry point online mainly lowers that "which desk?" burden. Two practical points. First, the sooner you consult, the more options remain: some remedies such as cooling-off have fixed time limits, so keep your contract, the advertisement, and your exchanges with the business (emails, chat screens) rather than deleting them. Second, the site is for guidance — the actual advice and mediation are handled by municipal consumer affairs centers and the NCAC. The flow is to identify the right desk online, then move to the phone line (188) or an in-person counter.
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Consumer Affairs Agency of Japan website (Notice: NCAC's "Consumer Trouble Navi" has been published)This article was edited and written by freegent Inc. based on the source above.