Bottom line: as of August 2026, you still have to phone to actually cancel
I just canceled my SoftBank Hikari fiber internet.
Here's the most important thing up front.
As of August 2026, the final cancellation of SoftBank Hikari still has to be done by phone.
In My SoftBank (the online account page) you can check cancellation fees, the remaining balance on your installation cost, and which perks you'll lose, and you can even book a callback from phone support. But you still have to tell a human that you want to cancel, over the phone.
The official cancellation line is 0800-111-6710. It's open 10:00-19:00, every day of the year.
According to the official guidance, the cancellation date you can pick is "from 6 business days after you call, up to 90 days out." If you want internet until the day you move, just decide your service end date first and keep using the equipment until then.
From the moment I dialed to the moment everything was done, it took about 30 minutes.
The operator was polite and helpful.
The problem is the dungeon you have to crawl through to reach that operator.
1. Check the costs in My SoftBank before you call
There are mainly three things to look at first:
- The early termination fee
- The remaining balance on the installation cost
- The estimated total you'll pay on cancellation
Under the current rules, for contracts they apply to, the termination fee has been cut to roughly one month of the base rate. Compared with the old image of "canceling fiber costs you around 10,000 yen," it's been nerfed quite a bit.
But that doesn't mean it's free.
The amount depends on when you signed up, when your renewal period is, your plan, and what's left on the installation cost.
Look at the numbers before you call. That's your first piece of armor.
2. Make the call. This is where the Final Fantasy starts
If it's busy, you wait.
This time, the hold music was the main theme from Final Fantasy.
All I wanted was to cancel, and the send-off was way too epic.
"We're experiencing high call volume right now."
Cue the Final Fantasy theme.
I didn't come here to collect crystals. I just want to shut off a home internet line.
Here's the practical fix:
Put the phone on speaker and set it down.
You don't have to hold it to your ear for 10 or 20 minutes. Pack boxes, update your address, clear your email in the meantime. You can even go to the bathroom. There's no need to sacrifice an ear and both hands to a mandatory phone queue.
3. Once you get through, ask everything at once
If you're canceling because you're moving, ask about all of these in one go:
- The date you want service to end
- How late on that day the internet will keep working
- The termination fee
- The remaining installation balance
- The final bill
- Any add-on services still active
- Whether a removal visit is needed
- Which SoftBank equipment must be returned
- Which NTT equipment must be returned
- Where the NTT return kit will be sent
If you want to use the internet until the morning of moving day, say so clearly.
Your internet doesn't cut off the moment you submit the cancellation. So don't unplug the ONU (the fiber modem on your wall) early and seal it in a box, cutting off your own connection.
4. Returns: separate "SoftBank" gear from "NTT" gear
This is the confusing part.
Equipment with a SoftBank logo
The typical example is the Hikari BB unit (SoftBank's router box).
The items the official guidance lists as typical returns are the Hikari BB unit itself, the power adapter, the LAN cable, the phone-line cable and so on.
SoftBank generally doesn't send a return kit for its own rental equipment.
You find your own cardboard box, pack it yourself, and ship it back at your own expense.
In other words, you pay the postage.
First the phone call, then the wait, maybe a termination fee, and finally shipping costs.
The attacks keep coming right to the end.
By the way, the official FAQ says that if you've lost the cables, you can return just the main unit, and you won't be charged a penalty only for the missing accessories.
Equipment with an NTT logo
The ONU, the home gateway and similar items go through a different route.
These are returned using an NTT return kit.
Don't mix them into the box with the SoftBank equipment.
If your move might overlap with the kit's arrival, ask on the phone whether they can send it to your new address.
5. Remote shutoff and physical removal are two different things
Depending on your contract and the building's setup, NTT may be able to shut off the line remotely. In that case, nobody needs to be home for a visit.
But in a rental, the fiber outlet and fiber cable can stay inside the apartment.
That's where your property management company comes in.
If the management company says "it's fine to leave it," you may be able to move out without any removal work.
On the other hand, if they ask you to remove it as part of restoring the apartment to its original condition, a technician visit may be dispatched and you may need to be there.
The official FAQ also says that if you can't be present, the management company can stand in for you, or you can move out leaving the equipment in place. If it isn't decided on the spot whether someone has to be present, you may be told later by text message or in writing.
So if you rent, don't only ask SoftBank. Ask your management company whether it's okay to leave the fiber equipment in place.
6. If you're using it until moving day, don't rush the return
This is the safe order:
- Set your cancellation date to your moving day
- Keep using the ONU and router until the very end
- Unplug the cables right before the movers carry things out
- Pack everything in one box clearly marked "to return"
- Take it with you to your new home
- Send it back from there, the way you were told to
Don't miss the return deadline. And don't seal the Hikari BB unit at the very bottom of a moving box.
7. Some add-ons may need to be canceled separately
SoftBank's official guidance says some services, such as Netflix and Hikari TV, may need to be canceled on their own.
If you want to keep using your landline phone number, check that in advance too.
And if you use an @ybb.ne.jp email address through the Yahoo! BB basic service, note that it will stop working after you cancel.
On the phone, ask:
"Are there any add-ons on my contract that I need to cancel separately?"
8. Even with a good operator, the cancellation experience is a separate score
The phone support this time was good.
The explanations were clear and polite.
That's exactly why it's better to judge the individual operator and the way cancellation is designed separately.
You can view your contract details on the web. Identity verification works online. You can see the costs. You can even book a callback.
And yet the cancellation itself has to be done by phone.
If it's busy, you wait.
All the frustration that piles up along the way ("must call," "wait time," "termination fee," "returns," "shipping") ends up landing on the call center agent at the end.
It's a setup in which human operators soak up the friction of the service's design.
If someone who has used the service for about six years ends up thinking "next time I'll go with another company" during those last 30 minutes, that's a wasted chance to keep them as a customer, too.
9. The shortest checklist
Before the call:
- Check the termination fee and remaining installation balance in My SoftBank
- Decide your cancellation date
- Decide whether you'll use the internet until moving day
- Check the effect on your landline, email and add-ons
- If you rent, ask your management company whether the fiber equipment can stay
During the call:
- Use speaker mode
- Do something else while you wait
- State your cancellation date clearly
- Confirm when service will actually stop
- Confirm whether removal work is needed
- Confirm SoftBank returns and NTT returns separately
- Confirm where the NTT return kit goes
- Confirm any add-ons that need separate cancellation
- Confirm the final bill
After the call:
- Check the text message and paperwork
- Keep using the equipment until the last day
- Pack SoftBank equipment yourself
- Return NTT equipment with the return kit
- Do the removal work only if it's needed
- Keep a record of what you returned
Bottom line: the hard part isn't canceling, it's everything around it
Saying "I'd like to cancel" is easy.
But once the phone wait, identity check, termination fee, stop date, sorting the equipment, returns, shipping, return kit, management company, removal work and add-on checks all chain together, it becomes an event that easily takes 30 minutes or more.
The strategy is simple.
Use speaker on the phone. Do other things while you wait. Separate what goes back to SoftBank from what goes back to NTT. If you rent, ask your management company whether the fiber equipment can stay.
Even if the hold music is epic, you don't have to become an adventurer yourself.
You're just canceling your internet.
