Emergency Numbers and How to Call
Learn the two emergency numbers, what to say first, and what to prepare before help arrives.
If you remember only two numbers in Japan, make them 119 and 110. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs guide says 119 is for an ambulance or a fire, while 110 is for police, and both numbers can be dialed from a landline, public phone, mobile phone, or PHS. The same guide also says emergency numbers are for emergencies, not for questions, and that ambulance service in Japan is free of charge, so you should not hesitate to use 119 when the situation is urgent. If you are calling from a public phone, you do not need coins or calling cards: pick up the receiver, press the red emergency button, and dial 119 or 110. The public-phone system can automatically trace the call source, so you do not need to worry if you cannot immediately explain the exact street address. That said, the guide still recommends that you tell the operator your municipality name first, then the rest of the location, or, if you do not know the address, the nearest large building, intersection, or other clear landmark. This is the most important first step for an English speaker who may not know the local area names yet, because the call center can only send help quickly if it knows where you are. Guide to Living in Japan How to Use an Ambulance Wisely
When you call 119, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency says to keep your answer short and calm: first say that it is an emergency, then give the address, then explain what happened, then state the age of the person who is sick or injured, then give your own name and a phone number that can still be reached after the call. If the person is unconscious, breathing badly, or changing quickly, tell the operator that immediately, and if you already started first aid, explain what you have done. The same guide says it is helpful to keep a note in advance with the person’s chronic conditions, regular clinic, regular medicines, and any doctor instructions, because this information can be passed on faster when an ambulance arrives. The FDMA guide also says that if you are not sure whether the patient really needs an ambulance, operators may give oral first-aid instructions, and if someone else is available, that person should go out to the street to guide the ambulance as it approaches, because that can shorten arrival time. For families with children, it is also useful to keep the mother-and-child handbook, diapers, a bottle, towels, and medicine notes together, so the bag is ready when the call is made. How to Use an Ambulance Wisely
Do not wait if the symptoms look like a stroke, a serious heart or breathing problem, major bleeding, a large burn, or a seizure that will not stop. The FDMA emergency guide lists face drooping, sudden numbness, weakness in one arm or leg, slurred speech, narrowing vision, double vision, sudden severe headache, sudden high fever, severe chest or back pain, hard breathing, blood in vomit, black stool, loss of consciousness, and a person who is clearly acting strangely as reasons to call 119 right away. It also says that sudden severe abdominal pain, choking with breathing trouble, traffic accidents with strong impact, falling from a high place, drowning, and severe burns are all high-risk situations. For children, the guide highlights blue lips, very bad color, hard coughing or wheezing, weak breathing, stiff limbs, head injury with bleeding or seizures, nonstop vomiting or diarrhea with dehydration, and anything that looks unusual to the parent. For older adults, it warns that symptoms can be less obvious, so “not the usual condition” is itself a reason to take the situation seriously. If you are uncertain, the guide points you to the consultation line #7119 for ambulance-related advice and #8000 for child medical consultation, with #8000 mainly for holidays and late-night hours. The FDMA also offers a free emergency decision-support app that helps you judge whether you should go to the hospital, call an ambulance, or wait and monitor the symptoms. How to Use an Ambulance Wisely
A good emergency plan in Japan is not only about the phone number; it is about reducing the time lost while everyone is panicking. The same FDMA materials say local fire stations run first-aid classes, and that you can find the fire station phone number on municipal or city websites. They also say that some fire departments use telephone interpretation through a three-way simultaneous interpretation system, so if you cannot speak Japanese, the call may still be handled through a translation center for major languages. The FDMA also introduced Rescue Voicetra, a multilingual voice-translation app for emergency responders, and its 2025 materials say it is a free app with 46 fixed phrases in 15 languages, with communication fees paid by the user; the same materials say 690 of 720 fire departments were using it on 2025-01-01. For an English speaker, the practical lesson is simple: if you are likely to call for help, prepare your own location, your age, your phone number, your basic medical history, and the exact condition in a short form, because the emergency system is designed to move fast and may dispatch an ambulance before every question is finished. If you live with children, older relatives, or anyone who takes regular medicine, make a shared note now instead of trying to remember it under pressure. Foreign Visitors and Disaster Prevention Response Rescue Voicetra: Multilingual Voice Translation App for Emergency Responders
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Common Scams and Crime Prevention
See the biggest fraud patterns in Japan and the daily habits that reduce risk.
The biggest fraud warning in Japan right now is digital scam activity. The National Police Agency said that from January to November 2024, SNS-based investment and romance scams reached 9,265 reported cases and about 114.1 billion yen in 피해, with 5,939 investment scams and 3,326 romance scams inside that total. The same NPA material shows how these scams work in practice: investment fraud often starts with banners, direct messages, Facebook, LINE, Instagram, X, TikTok, or a dating app, then moves the victim onto LINE or another private channel; romance scams also start heavily through direct messages and dating apps and then keep the conversation going in LINE. The money trail matters too. In investment scams, 86.5% of the loss was paid by bank transfer and 11.2% by crypto, while in romance scams 74.7% was paid by bank transfer, 19.5% by crypto, and 5.1% by electronic money. That means the most practical defense is to slow down the payment stage, because these cases are not only about fake profiles but also about getting you to move real money quickly. If someone you have only met online asks for transfer fees, tax, release fees, shipping fees, or an urgent profit opportunity, treat the request as a warning sign rather than a personal emergency. SNS Investment and Romance Scam Trends as of November 2024
Japan’s official institutions also warn about scams that copy the look of government and embassy pages. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it has received reports of fraudulent websites, social media accounts, and emails that falsely claim to come from the Government of Japan or Japanese embassies in order to extract payments from visa applicants, and it says real visa applications must be submitted directly to an embassy, consulate-general, consular office, or accredited agency, not through a random website or account. MOFA also warns about emails disguised as senior officials, including messages that look as if they came from a @mofa.go.jp address; if a message feels suspicious, it says not to open attachments or links and to verify it by telephone rather than by replying. The most useful daily rule is to assume that any unexpected payment request from a supposed government body is suspicious until you confirm it through the official contact route. In the same vein, the U.S. Embassy in Japan says that hospitals and police stations in Japan will not demand payment from a U.S. citizen in order to provide medical care, release someone from custody, or bail them out, and it tells readers not to send money when a stranger keeps adding new urgent problems to a story. That is a strong reminder for students, workers, and newcomers: emergency stories can be staged specifically to make you pay quickly, so verify the institution first, not the emotional tone of the message. Fraudulent Visa Websites and Social Media Warnings Beware of Fraudulent Emails Disguised as Senior MOFA Officials Scams Targeting U.S. Citizens VISA
JETRO’s scam warning page is useful because it names the patterns people actually encounter in international business and relocation life. It lists fake trade deals, international bid scams, romance scams, gold and diamond schemes, money-laundering style offers, investment scams, visa acquisition scams, inheritance scams, bank-account change scams, and high-fee advertising scams. Several of those are especially relevant to English speakers in Japan because they begin with a normal-looking email, a polite LinkedIn message, or a business contact that seems to have been introduced through a friend, then switch to demands for prepayment, customs fees, legal fees, taxes, or transfer charges. JETRO’s advice is practical: question any deal with a strangely short deadline, unusually favorable terms, or a sudden request for upfront money; verify the other party’s website, address, phone number, staff identity, and whether the company details change while the conversation is still going on; and if a payment method changes, confirm the change by telephone and in signed writing rather than by email alone. It also warns that if you are already exchanging messages and you realize the story is suspicious, you should stop replying instead of trying to argue the scammer out of it, because even polite engagement can mark you as a continuing target. This is the same logic that applies to fraudulent visa requests and fake official sites: if money is being demanded before you can verify the institution, do not treat the request as routine. International Scam Cases Fraudulent Visa Websites and Social Media Warnings
For everyday street and nightlife safety, the most important habits are boring ones: keep your drink in sight, do not accept drinks from strangers, do not follow touts to unfamiliar bars or clubs, and check the price before you sit down. The UK travel advice page for Japan says that nightlife districts carry higher risk, especially in and around Kabukicho, Roppongi, Shibuya, and Ikebukuro in Tokyo, and it specifically warns about drink spiking, credit-card fraud, and overcharging. It also notes that you may need a police report before your card company will process a fraud claim, so the practical response is to preserve receipts, note the location, and report the issue quickly. The same advice says women on commuter trains have experienced inappropriate touching and upskirting, and that the immediate response is to attract attention and ask another passenger to call train or station staff. Japan is generally safe, but those are exactly the kinds of incidents that become serious because people hesitate or assume they will somehow sort themselves out later. Also remember that if you are a mid- to long-term resident, the MOFA guide says foreign nationals aged 16 or older must carry the residence card at all times; carrying your passport or residence card is not just paperwork, it is part of staying ready for identity checks, hotel check-ins, and emergency support. Japan Safety and Security Advice Guide to Living in Japan
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Safety Information and Security Tips
Prepare for earthquakes, typhoons, alerts, shelters, insurance, and language support tools.
Japan’s official disaster guidance is built around fast alerts and quick movement to safety. The Japan National Tourism Organization says earthquake early warnings are broadcast on TV, radio, cell phones, and smartphones when the Japan Meteorological Agency expects strong shaking, and that when you hear the warning you should remain calm and protect yourself immediately even if you do not yet feel the quake. The same JNTO page says tsunami warnings are issued roughly three minutes after an earthquake if damage is expected, and if shaking is strong or long-lasting you should begin evacuating at once, move to a higher place, and stay there until the warning is cancelled because tsunamis can strike repeatedly over a long period. For weather, the JMA uses advisories when heavy rain or strong winds may cause damage, warnings when a serious disaster may occur, and emergency warnings when a devastating disaster is strongly possible. It also issues volcanic warnings and forecasts for about 110 active volcanoes. For an English speaker living in Japan, the key is to treat these alerts as operational instructions rather than background news: once the alert arrives, stop debating whether the situation is really serious and start following the official action path. Safety Tips for Travelers Hazard Map Portal Site
Building behavior matters just as much as the warning itself. JNTO says earthquake-resistant structures are widely used in Japan and that most buildings are fairly resistant to shaking, so if you are already inside a safe building when an earthquake starts, do not rush outside until it is safe. The MOFA living guide adds that after shaking subsides, you should switch off heat sources such as gas stoves and heaters as soon as possible to prevent fire, close the gas main valve, unplug electric appliances, and turn off the circuit breaker before evacuating. For coastal areas, the same JNTO guidance says you should move to higher ground immediately after a major earthquake, without trying to judge the safety situation on your own. Public evacuation shelters are also part of the system: local governments designate facilities such as schools and community centers as shelters for residents who cannot return home or need to stay until disaster risk has passed. If you want to check your own neighborhood before you need it, the Geospatial Information Authority’s Hazard Map Portal lets you search by address, current location, or map, and it organizes risk by flood, landslide, storm surge, and tsunami. That makes it useful not only after a disaster starts but also when you are choosing an apartment, commuting route, or weekend trip. Safety Tips for Travelers Guide to Living in Japan Hazard Map Portal Site
The easiest way to make the system work for you is to prepare before the first alert, not after it. JNTO’s Safety Tips service provides push notifications for disaster information, and its site points travelers to daily forecasts, weather warnings and advisories, tsunami warnings and advisories, earthquake information, and major news sources such as NHK World. On the health side, the U.S. Embassy in Japan says international travel medical insurance is highly recommended and should include hospital referrals, medical interpretation, and cashless medical services, because medical treatment can be expensive and you may not want to pay first and sort things out later. It also notes that depending on the type and amount of medicine you bring for personal use, you may need to apply for a Yunyu Kakunin-sho, so medication planning should happen before departure, not after you have already packed the bag. The MOFA living guide and other official travel pages also remind residents to keep passports or residence cards with them, and if you are long-term resident, the residence card must be carried at all times. That sounds mundane, but in practice it matters when you are traveling, checking into a hotel, dealing with police, or seeking consular help during a disruption. The broader message is that safety in Japan is not passive; you get the benefit of a strong emergency system only if you already know what to carry, what to tap on your phone, and what local sites to check before the weather changes. Safety Tips for Travelers Important Information for Visitors to Japan: Travel Insurance Guide to Living in Japan
Language support is also part of safety, especially for people who have just moved or are still learning Japanese. The FDMA’s foreign visitor materials say 119 multilingual support is being expanded through a telephone interpretation center, with 24 hours a day and 365 days a year coverage for major languages in participating fire departments, and that the same approach can be used in the field when responders hand the phone to the caller and let the interpreter bridge the conversation. The same FDMA materials on Rescue Voicetra say the app is designed for emergency responders, offers voice translation and fixed emergency phrases, and was already in use in 690 of 720 fire departments as of 2025-01-01. That matters because it means foreign-language support is not something you need to improvise alone; local responders already have tools for it, and you should not be embarrassed to ask for interpreter help if you cannot explain your symptoms clearly in Japanese. The practical habit for newcomers is to test those tools before you need them, keep your address and nearest station written in a note on your phone, and write down the names of your regular clinic and medicines in advance, because those are the details that emergency staff most often need first. If you live with children, it is worth making the same note for them too, since the FDMA guidance on child emergencies shows that the system expects caregivers to speak quickly, clearly, and with the right details already in hand. Foreign Visitors and Disaster Prevention Response Rescue Voicetra: Multilingual Voice Translation App for Emergency Responders