Electrical devices in Japan (from North America)

I should probably know this, but Google is giving me mixed results (some are outdated, some are conflicting...)

So, what exactly is it? I wil have a laptop charger (and it is most likely universal so voltage is no issue) and my phone charger is universal as well- I'm just worried about the plug type. Will a standard, 2 prong NA plug fit/work in Japan?


Thanks.

 

North American and Japanese plugs are the same. Horrid nasty 2 prong things that give off sparks But yeah, they are the same.

 

Good to know, thanks.

 

EVERYTHING sold in Japan is 100 to 110 volts . There's nothing higher than that unless it's a portable item. Some items come with an earth wire such as air conditioners, big TVs, Microwaves, washing machines and so on but they all run off 100 to 110volts. Every household uses that voltage. Most travelling products are universal such as phone chargers or camera battery chargers (100 to 240 volts) because you take them around the world so all you'd need then is a prong adapter. This crappy 10 year old lap top I'm using in work has a power brick that takes 100 to 240 volts. The only reason being is because you take a laptop around the world with you. You could plug this in to a US socket and use it with no extra hardware. If I took it to the UK (240 volts) I could still use it but would need to buy a socket adaptor. No power converter would be needed.

 

Pretty much every North American outlet is polarized while Japanese outlets are less so. 3-prong grounded outlets are rare so consider that for any "IEC" power cords (your laptop supply is 2-prong?).

Japan's 50 Hz areas aren't a big deal unless you're using appliances/AC adapters with really cheap transformers or an ancient power-timed clock.

 

yep, my laptop is two prong (all 3 of my lap tops are) but my desk top is 3 prong. Japan does use 3 prong plugs in some cases and in others a two prong plus wire for earth. Take a look at the following pictures of my air conditioner's socket. As you can see it has the 3 prong holes just like the US plus a place to attach an earth wire if the device being used doesn't use a 3 prong plug but a two prong and wire. The socket pictured below is odd though. For some reason it also has space for pugs that have one vertical and one horizontal prong. Not sure what country uses that format. I'm guessing maybe Korea. All the sockets in my home are made by National (Panasonic)



Here's a two prong plug with an earth wire. This is on a multi socket adaptor.



As for the frequency. Pretty much every electrical appliance is 50/60htz compatible. We use 50Htz in Honshu but it's 60 in Kyushu. We can all use the same electrical appliances though.

 

Gonna go out on a limb and say it's a Fukuoka thing. Never seen a home with a place/socket for ground other than that tacky "jam the wire in there" bullshit.

To the OP: If it has 3 prongs, just get a converter. If it has 2 prongs, stick it in the wall. I've been doing it w/ American and Japanese products (in both places) for 15 fucking years. God damn I wish I was 22.

 

Frequency isn't that huge of an issue compared to voltage. Most laptop AC-adapters and phone chargers now a days support 100-240 volts, so you just need an appropriate plug adapter. I am quite puzzled at the lack of ground in most plugins, it is pretty dangerous to plug a computer in without a ground. You might need to get a stepup transformer for some devices, probably items that have high power requirements. I seem to recall my Xbox 360 power supply being able to handle 110-120 V, so this is likely not an issue with anything that you can carry with you.

 

Any desktop or server here is sold w/ a North American-style 3-prong plug, plus a 2-prong converter (w/ goofy ground cable attached).

 

Good guess but I don't live in Fukuoka, I live in Honshu so we both use the same power system (unlike Fukuoka). I even have a multi socket with ground terminals on it. We only have one of these grounded plugs in each room. Mostly for air conditioners but my PC also uses one, as does the Microwave, fridge and washing machine. Maybe they are a new safety rule being implemented? My house is only 3 years old so......

 

I'm currently in Kumamoto (pretty close to Fukuoka), and in the main living area of the apartment I am in, four of the five outlets are standard two-prong outlets. One has a socket for the ground, right above the sink. Guess they aren't expecting someone to have a desktop computer here.

 

Well, the first ones weren't introduced to Japan until 1997, so you can't blame them.

 

It's not a big deal to ignore ground for a PC. The hot wire would have to detach from the power supply and touch the enclosure for a shock hazard. It's actually common in the US to renovate with grounded outlets where a ground connection isn't actually available... Thankfully most things with a fair chance at shocking have a GFCI plug.

 

Do other countries have M.E.N. (multiple earth neutral) system?