Emergency information in Japan
Police 110, fire and ambulance 119, free from any phone - both answered in Japanese. The official English-language fallback is JNTO's Japan Visitor Hotline on 050-3816-2787, staffed 24 hours a day, every day. Calling an ambulance and riding in it is free; the hospital is not.
- Police 110. Fire and ambulance 119. Free from any phone, and both are answered in Japanese.
- 118 is the coast guard, for anything at sea.
- JNTO's Japan Visitor Hotline, 050-3816-2787, runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese - for emergencies as well as tourist information. From abroad: +81 50 3816 2787.
- The Japan Helpline, 0570-000-911, is a further multilingual relay that will pass your emergency on to 110 or 119 in your language.
- The ambulance itself is free - the call and the ride. The hospital treatment is not.
- Install the Safety Tips app for earthquake, tsunami and weather warnings in English.
Emergency numbers
| Service | Number | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Police | 110 | Free from any phone. Answered in Japanese. |
| Fire and ambulance | 119 | Free from any phone. Answered in Japanese. |
| Coast guard | 118 | Anything at sea. |
| Japan Visitor Hotline (JNTO) | 050-3816-2787 | 24 hours, every day of the year, in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Emergencies and tourist information alike. From outside Japan, +81 50 3816 2787. |
| Japan Helpline | 0570-000-911 | A multilingual relay that will pass your emergency to 110 or 119 in your language. |
The language gap is the real problem, not the response. Emergency services in Japan are fast and competent, and they work in Japanese. If you cannot make yourself understood, call the Japan Visitor Hotline and let them relay it.
What it costs
Calling an ambulance and travelling in it are free - there is no charge for the 119 call or the ride. The treatment at the hospital is not free, and Japanese hospitals expect payment. Travel insurance covering medical costs is not optional here.
See the Health section for hospitals with English-speaking staff, and for Japan's unusually strict rules on bringing in medication.
Getting help in English
110 and 119 are answered in Japanese. The Japan Visitor Hotline on 050-3816-2787 runs 24 hours in English, Chinese and Korean and handles accidents, illness and disasters.
- Japan Visitor Hotline: 050-3816-2787. Twenty-four hours, every day, in English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese - accidents, illness, disasters and ordinary tourist questions. From outside Japan it is +81-50-3816-2787.
- In Tokyo the Metropolitan Police run their own English line: 03-3501-0110, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is the one to use for a crime that is not an emergency.
- Tokyo English Life Line (TELL): 03-5774-0992 for counselling and crisis support, Monday to Thursday 09:00-23:00 and Friday to Sunday 09:00-02:00.
- The JNTO TIC call centre on 050-3416-0010 (09:00-17:00 daily) is the non-urgent version: directions, transport, what is open.
- Ask the hotel front desk. For anything involving paperwork - a police report, a hospital that will take a foreign patient - staff phoning on your behalf is faster than any hotline.
Who answers in English
Japan's emergency lines are answered in Japanese, which is the single thing worth knowing before you need one. The English-language routes exist and are good, but you have to know their numbers.
| Line | Number | Hours | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan Visitor Hotline (JNTO) | 050-3816-2787 | 24 hours, daily | English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese |
| From outside Japan | +81-50-3816-2787 | 24 hours, daily | as above |
| Tokyo Metropolitan Police English helpline | 03-3501-0110 | 24 hours, 365 days | English |
| Tokyo English Life Line (counselling) | 03-5774-0992 | Mon-Thu 09:00-23:00, Fri-Sun 09:00-02:00 | English |
| JNTO TIC call centre (non-urgent) | 050-3416-0010 | 09:00-17:00 daily | English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese |
The Japan Visitor Hotline is the number to save. It is run by the national tourism organisation, it is staffed around the clock, and it covers accidents, sudden illness and disasters as well as ordinary travel questions - so it works as an interpreter into the emergency system rather than a substitute for it.
Call 119 or 110 first if someone is in danger. The hotline is for the part that comes after: finding a hospital that will take you, explaining what happened, understanding what you are being asked to sign.
Earthquake, tsunami and typhoon alerts
The government's Safety Tips app pushes earthquake early warnings, tsunami and volcanic alerts, special weather warnings and evacuation notices in 14 languages, including English.
- Install Safety Tips before you fly. The Japan Tourism Agency's free app carries earthquake early warnings, tsunami warnings, special weather warnings, volcanic eruption warnings, evacuation information and heatstroke alerts, in 14 languages including English, Chinese and Korean.
- An earthquake early warning arrives seconds before the shaking, not minutes. The seconds are for getting away from glass and under something solid - not for leaving the building.
- The Japan Meteorological Agency (jma.go.jp) is the source everything else quotes for tsunami and aftershock warnings, in English.
- Typhoon season runs through late summer and autumn and closes railways and airports by announcement a day ahead, so a warning is worth acting on before it becomes a cancellation.
The alerts worth having on your phone
Safety Tips is the app the Japan Tourism Agency publishes for foreign visitors, and it is the practical answer to a country where the official warnings are broadcast in Japanese. It pushes:
- earthquake early warnings and tsunami warnings
- special weather warnings and heatstroke alerts
- volcanic eruption warnings
- evacuation information for the area you are standing in
It is free, works in 14 languages including English, and needs nothing more than a data connection - which is one more reason to sort out a SIM or eSIM at the airport rather than the next day.
The Japan Meteorological Agency publishes the underlying warnings in English at jma.go.jp, including aftershock and tsunami information, and is what to check when an alert has already gone off and you want to know what happens next.
What an early warning actually gives you
An earthquake early warning is issued from the first tremors detected at the epicentre, so it reaches a phone somewhere between a few seconds and a minute before the shaking does. That is time to move away from windows, get under a desk or table and stay there - not time to get down a staircase. Everything after the shaking follows the same order every time: check for fire, open a door so it cannot jam shut, and wait for instructions rather than heading outside into falling glass.
If your passport or cards are stolen
A police report from any koban is what your embassy and your insurer both need. Report the loss, then call the card issuers - Japanese police stations issue the report on the spot.
- Go to the nearest koban - the neighbourhood police box on street corners everywhere - and ask for a report. A local police station can issue one on the spot.
- The police report is not optional. A replacement passport and any insurance payout for theft, loss or an accident both require it.
- Ask your hotel to come with you or to phone ahead. Front desks do this often and it removes the language problem from the paperwork.
- Then contact the issuers: card companies to cancel, the airline for tickets, your embassy for the passport.
The order that works
- Report it at a koban. These small police boxes are on street corners in every city and are staffed around the clock; a local police station will also do. Ask for a report of the theft or loss - this is the document everything else hangs off.
- Tell your hotel. Front desk staff deal with this regularly, and having someone who can phone the police station or the embassy in Japanese turns an afternoon into twenty minutes.
- Cancel and replace. Contact your card issuers and your airline for tickets. For the passport, contact your own country's embassy or consulate in Japan - they will ask for the police report and for photographs.
Insurance claims need the same report, whether the loss was theft, an accident or a hospital admission, so ask for it even when you do not expect to claim. Japan has very low rates of street crime and lost property is often handed in, but the paperwork is what makes a replacement possible, and it is easier to obtain on the day than a week later from another city.
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