Safety & health
Travel insurance
Get it. Both the national tourism organization and the Japan Tourism Agency recommend it for every visitor.
What to know
- JNTO strongly recommends travel insurance for all visitors. Japanese medical care is advanced, but treatment can be expensive.
- The Japan Tourism Agency recommends private medical insurance with enough coverage for an emergency.
- Look for cashless service, where the insurer pays the hospital directly. Some clinics don't take cards, and some insurers want you to pay first and claim later.
- Check how the policy handles pre-existing conditions, which activities it excludes, and whether it covers injury or damage you cause to someone else.
- Japan's embassies also suggest coverage for hospital referrals and medical interpretation.
- Perinatal care usually isn't covered by travel insurance.
- Your credit card may include travel insurance. Ask the card provider what it actually covers.
- Forgot to buy it? You can still purchase insurance after arriving in Japan.
- Foreign visitors with unpaid medical bills can be restricted or refused entry on a later trip.
psst, save your insurer's emergency number in your phone and on paper in your wallet. When you need it, your phone may be the thing that's broken.