If your child gets a fever while travelling in Japan.
Trouble breathing or not fully conscious: call 119. Not sure: phone for advice

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If in doubt, decide in 3 steps: call 119, phone for advice, or find a hospital through a service

The more children a family has, the more likely someone gets a fever or a bump on the trip. Families from abroad do not know whether it is all right to call an ambulance in Japan, where to go at night or on a holiday, or whether they can find a hospital in English or Chinese. This article sets out the lines and services published by public bodies, in the order you would use them on a trip.

The answer: if there are symptoms that need an ambulance, such as difficulty breathing or not being fully conscious (listed in the next section), call 119; if you are unsure, phone for advice; if you are going to a hospital yourself, find one through a service in your language.

When to call an ambulance: the symptoms the FDMA lists for children and grandparents

The answer: the FDMA guide for visitors says to call an ambulance "without hesitation" if a child (under 15) has any of the following symptoms. If even one applies, call 119.

• Blue lips, or a clearly bad colour in the face
• A violent cough, wheezing, or weak breathing
• Unconscious, drowsy or confused; a seizure that will not stop, or not regaining consciousness after a seizure
• Stiff arms and legs
• A hard knock to the head with bleeding that will not stop, unconsciousness or a seizure; a seizure with a headache
• Severe diarrhoea or vomiting so they cannot drink or eat, and not fully conscious; strong stomach pain; continuous vomiting; blood in the stool
• Choking on something with difficulty breathing or unconsciousness; hives all over the body and a bad colour after an insect sting
• A very painful or large burn; a traffic accident, drowning, or a fall from a height
• When something seems wrong with a baby under 3 months, and when a child seems different from usual or not right to the parent, are also listed in the guide as reasons to call an ambulance

• For grandparents (adults), the guide lists symptoms such as "a sudden high fever", "a sudden severe headache", "sudden severe pain in the chest or back", "sudden shortness of breath or difficulty breathing", "sudden numbness" and "sudden weakness in one arm or leg" as reasons to call an ambulance.
• The guide is in 16 languages (including English, Traditional Chinese and French), and can be read from the FDMA's Guide to Using an Ambulance for visitors to Japan (the page is in Japanese; the guide itself is in each language).

How to call 119: what to say, in order, and what to have ready

The answer: on 119, say "ambulance" (kyūkyū desu), then give the place, the symptoms, the age, and your name and phone number, in that order. If you call in a foreign language, the fire department dispatcher connects an interpreter and you talk three ways.

1. "Ambulance" (kyūkyū desu)
2. The place (if you do not know the address, a nearby building or junction)
3. The symptoms, and since when
4. Age
5. Your name and phone number

• 119 is free and 24 hours (the Japan Tourism Agency's information for visitors). Anyone in Japan can use an ambulance.
• Interpreters: as of January 2025, 93.5% of fire departments nationwide have them, and every fire department that has them covers English, Chinese and Korean. Other languages vary by area.
• Have ready: passports, cash or a credit card (to pay at the hospital), and any medicines being taken (more in "What to bring and how to pay" below).
• When the crew arrives, tell them how it happened, how things changed until they arrived, the worst symptom, any long-term conditions and any medicines being taken.
• If there are several adults, one going outside the building to guide the ambulance in gets it there faster.
• You cannot choose which hospital you are taken to. Deciding in advance who goes with the patient and who stays at the hotel with the other children keeps you from panicking.
• Whether your phone can make calls (no Japanese phone number, a data-only SIM, and so on) is worth checking before you leave in Choosing an eSIM or pocket Wi-Fi in Japan.

If you are not sure about an ambulance: phone for advice

The answer: when you are not sure whether it is bad enough for an ambulance, phone for advice. Nationwide, JNTO's hotline (050-3816-2787, 24 hours, English, Chinese and Korean) helps with accidents and illness. To speak to a doctor or nurse in Okinawa Prefecture, call #7119 (24 hours, 23 languages).

• Okinawa #7119: 24 hours, 365 days. Doctors and nurses advise whether to call an ambulance or go to hospital straight away. The advice is free (call charges apply). From phones that cannot dial #, call 098-866-7119.
• Languages: 23 languages, including English, Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Thai and Vietnamese (three-way calls with an interpreter).
• It works in Ishigaki City and Taketomi Town too (the only place in Okinawa Prefecture it does not cover is Kitadaito Village).
• If they judge it urgent, they tell you to hang up and call 119 (if that is hard, they can put you through).
• #7119 is run by each prefecture. Outside Okinawa, check the local information to see whether it is available in the prefecture you are visiting.
• The children's phone advice line #8000 (Okinawa Prefecture) runs from 19:00 to 8:00 the next morning on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends and public holidays. It is not advertised as available in foreign languages, so it is an option when someone with you speaks Japanese.

Finding a hospital in your language: public services and search

The answer: to find a hospital in your language, phone JNTO's hotline (24 hours, English, Chinese and Korean) or search by area and language on its search page. Okinawa Prefecture also has a phone advice line for foreign tourists (18 languages).

• The official information does not say whether calls to 0570-050-235 are charged or whether you can call it from a foreign SIM.
• If it is bad enough to need an ambulance, call 119 before searching.

In Okinawa and Ishigaki (Yaeyama): where to go, and what to know on the outer islands

The answer: on Ishigaki, the hospital with 24-hour emergency care is Okinawa Prefectural Yaeyama Hospital. According to a 2023 document from Yaeyama Hospital, the surrounding islands such as Taketomi and Iriomote have no fire-service ambulance crews. If you are staying on an outer island with small children or grandparents, know this before you go.

• Okinawa Prefectural Yaeyama Hospital (584-1 Maesato, Ishigaki City, 0980-87-5557): a designated emergency hospital with 24-hour emergency care.
• Yaeyama Hospital's paediatric outpatient clinic is on weekdays only, with reception from 8:00 to 11:00. Afternoons are for booked patients only, and it is closed on weekends and public holidays. At other times you are seen as an emergency (the hospital's clinic timetable, as of October 2026).
• If you are seen without a referral letter, a "selective medical care fee" (¥7,000 for a first medical visit) is charged on top of the first-visit fee. It does not apply when emergency transport is judged necessary, but it does if you arrive by ambulance and are able to go home after being seen. The hospital's information says self-pay treatment for travellers without Japanese insurance is outside this fee (the treatment itself is paid in full by you).
• We could not find information on a night and holiday clinic in Ishigaki on the city, prefecture or hospital official sites. If you are unsure at night, call #7119.
• The list of "medical institutions accepting foreign patients" compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Japan Tourism Agency includes no medical institutions in Yaeyama (Ishigaki, Taketomi) (September 2026 edition). On Ishigaki, phoning #7119 or 0570-050-235 tells you where to go faster than searching.

• The surrounding islands (Taketomi, Iriomote, Kohama, Kuroshima, Hateruma and others) have no fire-service ambulance crews. Calling 119 on an outer island connects you to the dispatch centre on the main island of Okinawa, which contacts the island clinic's doctor and the volunteer fire corps (2023 Yaeyama Hospital document). Only in western Iriomote does a private ambulance crew under contract operate.
• For serious cases there is a system to fly patients to Yaeyama Hospital by Japan Coast Guard helicopter, but the procedure takes time and it may not be possible in bad weather (same document).
• The Western Clinic on Iriomote says that outside hours and on holidays it sees emergencies only, and that on some days no doctor is present.
• The scheduled boats from Taketomi to Ishigaki stop in the evening. Boat times and where to stay are covered in Ferries from Ishigaki Port to Taketomi and Iriomote for a family of 6 and Where a family of 6 can share one room on Ishigaki.

What to bring and how to pay: passports, and both cash and a card

The answer: take passports and both cash and a credit card when you see a doctor. Large hospitals take cards, but cash is usual at clinics.

• What to bring: passports, cash and a credit card, and any medicines being taken (a medicine record book or a note of the medicine names).
• JNTO says "credit cards can be used at large hospitals, but paying in cash is usual at clinics".
• Travellers who are not in Japan's public health insurance are treated as self-pay patients, not covered by insurance. JNTO says that without overseas travel insurance that can be used cashless, you may have to pay the full amount yourself.
• Leaving medical bills unpaid in Japan can lead to your entry being restricted or refused afterwards (JNTO).
• A note in Japanese or English of who in the family has what symptoms and since when, with long-term conditions, allergies and medicines for everyone, children and grandparents included, helps at reception.

Travel insurance: JNTO strongly recommends it

The answer: JNTO strongly recommends that every traveller to Japan takes out travel insurance. Some policies need you to pay the hospital first, so check how payment works before you leave.

• Medical care in Japan is advanced, but treatment can be expensive (JNTO).
• Depending on the insurer, you pay the full amount at the hospital and claim it back later.
• Some credit cards come with travel insurance. Check whether the whole family is covered, including the children and grandparents.
• JNTO's guide also introduces online insurance you can take out after arriving in Japan.

If your child gets a fever while travelling in Japan: FAQ

Prepare for the trip

We also cover summer heat, the sea and typhoons in Okinawa, and being ready for earthquakes.

Tips Surviving summer in Japan with a large family Getting ready for heatstroke, humidity and sudden downpours with children. Tips Okinawa jellyfish season and typhoons: family safety Getting ready for the sea, typhoons and UV with children. Tips If an earthquake hits in Japan: what a big family should know Protect your head and wait for the shaking to stop. 3 things to decide on the day you arrive.

📍 One of the articles in our Ishigaki trip plan (Ishigaki | Trip plan for large families / all Tips articles)