Japan Health Care System

There are both public and private medical facilities in Japan.

Medical facilities can be easily found through internet search and there are various medical institution search sites and applications, but please be careful in choosing one. Sites that post patients feedback might be biased and differ from the facts. 

In addition, the information on the site may be out of date, so please check and contact the institution before you visit. 

Medical expenses can be expensive if you don’t have any health insurance. It is important to acquire a private health insurance and travel insurance and know the details of your contracts in advance, otherwise, you will be charged a large amount of money compare to those who have their insurance. 

Foreign residents and their families who have a residence permit in Japan for three months or more are obliged to join the national health insurance system of Japan. For foreigners who works for a company are automatically registered through their company and there will be no need to be registered individually. Japanese national health insurance is not available for tourists or visitors who are specifically coming for treatment. 

※Get your necessary vaccinations completed before your travel to Japan, together with your vaccination records. 

Majority of medical facilities only operates from 9:00-17:00 on weekdays.
Weekends and Holidays are closed. Inquire us to help you find one during the closed hours. 

Please refer to the Japanese calendar for national holidays. 

English-speaking doctors and medical institutions that are active in accepting foreigners in urban areas are easy to find, but if you are in a rural area, this might be difficult. Multilingual services can be hard to find but many medical facilities have recently been incorporating the use of translation services online.

Privacy of the patients is the utmost priority of a hospital. If you bring a Japanese-speaking family or friend to the consultation as interpreter, it is likely that they will know your condition as well.  Depending on the person's Japanese ability, their intepretation might not be always accurate. Make sure to consider this when you ask for help. 

The cost for foreigners without a Japanese national health insurance and needs medical care and treatment during their stay in Japan can be costly and expensive. It is important to acquire a private health insurance and travel insurance and know the details of your contracts in advance. 

Payment by credit card might not be possible in all medical facilities, so it is recommended that you bring a certain amount with you upon consultation. 

Keep the receipts of all the treatments you received so that you will be reimbursed by your health insurance afterwards.