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Getting Medical Help救急・医療機関の受診·kyūkyū / iryō kikan no jushin

Ambulances are free. Read this before you need it, not at 2am on a phone with 6% battery.

Not verified yet

Drafted from general knowledge. Amounts, thresholds and deadlines change and vary by insurer and municipality — confirm with the office named here before you rely on it.

Why it matters

People from countries where an ambulance costs money hesitate to call one here, and that hesitation is dangerous. Calling 119 for an ambulance is free in Japan. Separately, the ordinary problem — being ill at night in a country whose medical system you cannot navigate in your own language — is entirely solvable with two phone numbers and knowing which kind of place to go to. Both are worth knowing before the night you need them.

Deadline
No legal deadline
Cost
Set by your city
Time
Read it now. Ten minutes.

What to bring

  • Health insurance card健康保険証·kenkō hokenshō

    Take it every single time. Without it you pay the full amount on the day and reclaim later.

  • Residence Card在留カード·zairyū kādo
  • A note of your medications and allergiesお薬手帳·okusuri techō

    Pharmacies issue a medicine record book free. In an emergency it does the explaining for you.

How it goes

  1. 1

    119 for an ambulance. It is free. Do not hesitate.

    Dial 119 — it covers both fire and ambulance. Say 救急です (kyūkyū desu — "it is an emergency"), then your address. There is no charge for the ambulance. If you can, have someone meet it outside; addresses are genuinely hard to find here.

    Say this

    救急です。救急車をお願いします。

    Kyūkyū desu. Kyūkyūsha o onegai shimasu.

    It is an emergency. Please send an ambulance.

  2. 2

    Not an emergency, but it is the middle of the night?

    Most prefectures run an emergency medical information line that will tell you which clinic or hospital is open now and takes your condition. Many also run a nurse advice line to help judge whether you need to go at all. Find your prefecture’s numbers today and put them in your phone.

  3. 3

    Know the difference between a clinic and a hospital

    Go to a small local clinic (医院 / クリニック) first for ordinary illness — faster and cheaper. Large hospitals often add a surcharge for turning up without a referral. If the clinic thinks you need a hospital, they refer you, and the referral removes that surcharge.

  4. 4

    Find a doctor who speaks your language before you are ill

    Prefectural and municipal websites list medical institutions by the languages they support, and your international association can help you search. Ten minutes now is worth a great deal at 2am.

    Say this

    英語が話せる先生はいますか。

    Eigo ga hanaseru sensei wa imasu ka.

    Is there a doctor who speaks English?

  5. 5

    Expect the pharmacy to be a separate stop

    Doctors give you a prescription, not the medicine. You take it to a pharmacy, usually one nearby. Ask for a medicine record book (お薬手帳) on your first visit and bring it back each time.