For safe travels in Japan | Guide for when you are feeling ill | To prepare for this, we have created a website to help you receive medical care in Japan. Please add it to your bookmarks to use in the event of an emergency. For safe travels in Japan | Guide for when you are feeling ill | To prepare for this, we have created a website to help you receive medical care in Japan. Please add it to your bookmarks to use in the event of an emergency.

  • Search Medical institutions
  • How to use Medical institutions
  • Symptoms and Treatment
  • Travel Insurance

Search Medical institutions

Download list of medical institutions as a PDF
Area

PDF Download

The medical institution search service can also be used at the following facilities

  • Front desk or
    concierge at a hotel

    Describe your symptoms for referral to a medical institution.

  • Tourist Information
    Center

    Receive a referral to
    a nearby medical institution.

    JNTO Tourist Information Office list

  • International Travel
    Medical Insurance

    If you have traveler’s insurance,
    the staff can contact the insurance company and refer you to a medical institution.

Note: This list of medical institutions that can accept overseas visitors has been made based on the lists of medical institutions prepared by prefectures. The institutions were selected in accordance with the requirements set by the Japan Tourism Agency and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan.

<Reference: Requirements for Selecting Medical Institutions>
1) Considering the number of overseas visitors and visits to medical institutions, select one or more hospitals that satisfy all of the following conditions.
  • [1] They must accept emergency patients year-round, around the clock.
  • [2] They must have multiple departments, including an emergency department, an internal medicine department, a surgery department and a pediatrics department. (There is the assumption that the hospitals be general hospitals.)
  • [3] They must facilitate medical care at least in English (during office hours, doctors can communicate with patients in English or Japanese-English interpreters are available to facilitate medical care)
2) The selected institutions shall satisfy [1] to [3] above. If that selection returns too few institutions to serve the overseas visitors, then “medical institutions (including clinics) that can provide medical care in a foreign language” shall be selected.
3) The medical institutions shall be selected from among those that have been accredited by the Japan Medical Service Accreditation for International Patients (JMIP) and from among central hospitals that have deployed medical interpreters and medical coordinators for foreigners under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Project for Improving the Ability of Medical Institutions to Meet the Needs of Foreign Visitors”.

How to use Medical institutions

The type of medical institution you need differs between time of use,
if it is an emergency, and the level of severity.

  • Emergency hospital

    Available 24 hours a day,
    365 days a year.

    • Accepts emergency care patients.

  • If you need doctors’ assistance

    • Visit a clinic or general hospital during regular hours.
    • Otherwise, go to after-hours reception (varies by region).

  • If you do not need doctors’ assistance

    • Nearby pharmacy
    • Drugstore
    • Consult a pharmacist, if possible.
    • Some types of medicines cannot be purchased at night when the pharmacist is not there.
How to use an emergency care hospital
  • Ambulance Call 119
    If you need an ambulance, show the sentence below to a nearby Japanese person so they will call one for you.
    Be transported to an emergency care hospital in the event of a traffic accident or other emergency.

    救急車を呼んでください。(Please call an ambulance.)

Important

You cannot choose which hospital you will be brought to. Depending on your condition, you may be given treatment without being questioned, so it is important to fill out the sheet below. ★1

Procedure from hospital reception to payment

*1 Be sure to listen carefully to the explanation of the examination results.

*2 Payment here is the cost for treatment received up to this point. Keep in mind that payment by credit card is only accepted at major hospitals. Clinics generally accept cash only.
If you are subscribed to overseas travel insurance including cash-free payment service, there is no need for payment. However, if you are not subscribed to overseas travel insurance, you may be charged the full amount.
Note: The cash-free conditions vary by insurance company. Please check beforehand.

*3 You will be charged separately at the pharmacy for any medicine you need. Some medical institutions provide in-house prescriptions.

Symptoms and Treatment

Primary symptoms Diagnosis and treatment departments
Fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose Internal Medicine
Headache Internal Medicine, Neurosurgery
Chest pain Cardiovascular Internal Medicine, Respiratory Internal Medicine
Abdominal pain Internal Medicine, Gastroenterological Medicine,
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Bloody vomit or stool Internal Medicine, Gastroenterological Medicine
Diarrhea Internal Medicine, Gastroenterological Medicine
Injury, wound Surgery, Plastic Surgery
Bone fracture, joint pain Orthopedic Surgery
Burns Dermatology, Plastic Surgery, Surgery
Eczema/Hives Dermatology
Dizziness/Tinnitus Otorhinolaryngology, Neurology
Ears, nose, or throat Otorhinolaryngology
Children’s illnesses Pediatrics
Toothaches Oral Health
Difficulty urinating, bloody urine, pain when urinating Urology
During pregnancy (abdominal pain or bloating, spotting, water breakage, concerns about the baby) Obstetrics/Gynecology
In emergencies Emergency Medicine
Unsure what department to visit General Diagnosis and Treatment

Travel Insurance

You will feel safe in emergencies
if you have international travel medical insurance.
Enjoy your travels without worry.

Although I may not have an illness or injury... | Get international travel medical insurance to cover your medical expenses. > Why? > If anything happens,treatment costs can be very expensive. | Get treatment without worry in unexpected situations. | Plus, | I cannot speak Japanese... | Feel even safer with medical institution referrals, interpretation services, and cash-free treatment. Although I may not have an illness or injury... | Get international travel medical insurance to cover your medical expenses. > Why? > If anything happens,treatment costs can be very expensive. | Get treatment without worry in unexpected situations. | Plus, | I cannot speak Japanese... | Feel even safer with medical institution referrals, interpretation services, and cash-free treatment.

*If you do not have insurance, you can get it after arriving in Japan.

Guide for using medical institutions（PDF）

Travel Insurance for Visitors