41.03 Healthcare & Insurance
Health coverage at a glance
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — Health Insurance overview: Official explainer on how Japan’s medical insurance system works, including the outline PDF for newcomers.
- Japan Pension Service — Japanese social insurance systems: English guide to pension and health insurance enrollment, including Nenkin Net account information.
- Employer-sponsored shakai hoken covers health, pension, unemployment, and long-term care. Municipal National Health Insurance applies when you are self-employed or between jobs.
Cross-reference
41.02 Arrival and First Months lists the first-week municipal errands required for National Health Insurance and My Number applications.
Enrolling after arrival
- Address registration. Submit your move-in notification (転入届, tennyuu todoke) within 14 days so the ward can attach your address to the residence card and issue the My Number Notice of Issuance.
- Insurance selection. Bring your residence card and passport to enrol in National Health Insurance unless your employer confirms shakai hoken coverage. Keep the insurance card you receive in the mail for clinic visits.
- Pension onboarding. Shakai hoken enrols you in the Employees’ Pension Insurance automatically. If you join National Health Insurance, register for the National Pension (国民年金) during the same visit.
- Track your filings. Once your My Number card is ready, activate MyPortal (see 41.04 Digital Government & Civic Services) so you can download insurance certificates and vaccination records digitally.
My Number card management
- Use the Notice of Issuance that arrives a few weeks after address registration to submit the card application immediately. 41.02 Arrival and First Months explains how to align family appointments so dependents enrol together.
- At pickup, set the four PINs (署名用暗証番号 + 利用者暗証番号) and store them securely. Municipal counters allow you to register dependents’ fingerprints and facial photos during the same visit.
- After activating the cards, link them to MyPortal and insurer portals so you can download vaccination certificates, premium notices, and tax deduction receipts on demand.
- Renew digital certificates before they expire (usually every five years) and reissue the physical card before the residence status end date to avoid losing e-Tax or NHI online services access.
Finding medical care
- Japan Medical Institution Search: Japan National Tourism Organization tool with filters for prefecture, language, and medical department. Follow the instructions to call ahead and confirm hours or language support.
- Guidebook for Living and Working in Japan: Immigration Services Agency handbook (PDF) summarising health, labour, and daily life procedures in multiple languages.
- Prefectural international centres (e.g., Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Himawari) publish multilingual clinic directories and translator hotlines—check your municipality’s English portal after address registration.
Language assistance & translation
- Japan Visitor Hotline provides 24/7 interpretation for medical emergencies, natural disasters, and tourism incidents. Share it with visiting family members.
- Non-profit organisations such as the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) coordinate interpretation support and referrals when you need help scheduling appointments.
- Pack the multilingual medical questionnaire from JNTO so clinics can confirm your symptoms even when an interpreter is not available.
Emergency & after-hours
- Dial 119 for fire or ambulance and #7119 where available for nurse triage on nights and weekends.
- Keep a list of after-hours pharmacies and hospital switches in your neighbourhood; most prefectures post bilingual emergency rosters online.
- Revisit the Emergency resources in 41.01 Japan Life for disaster alerts, hotlines, and Safety Tips app links.
Health records & reimbursements
- Use the MyPortal app to download vaccination certificates, review NHI premium notices, and share data securely with childcare or eldercare services once your My Number card is active.
- Nenkin Net lets you track pension contributions and print payment records. You will need your basic pension number and a postal verification code the first time you enrol.
- Most municipal offices and convenience stores issue resident certificates (住民票) and tax payment proofs that clinics request for childbirth, child allowance, or high-cost medical reimbursements—see 41.04 Digital Government & Civic Services for the digital workflows.