Japan Travel Safety Kit · Guides

What are the emergency numbers in Japan for tourists?

In Japan, call 119 for an ambulance or fire, 110 for the police, and 118 for the Japan Coast Guard (emergencies at sea). All three are free from any phone. The Japan Visitor Hotline, 050-3816-2787 (+81-50-3816-2787 from abroad), answers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in English, Chinese and Korean, for accidents, illness, natural disasters and general help.

The numbers

NumberWho answersUse it for
119Fire and Disaster Management (fire service)Ambulance, fire, rescue
110PoliceCrime, traffic accidents, a person in danger
118Japan Coast GuardEmergencies at sea
050-3816-2787
(+81-50-3816-2787 from abroad)		Japan Visitor Hotline (JNTO)24 hours, 365 days. English, Chinese, Korean. Accidents, illness, natural disasters, general help
03-3501-0110Tokyo Metropolitan Police English helplinePolice matters in Tokyo

If you cannot make yourself understood

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency's guide: Please ask them to help you call if there are people who speak Japanese around you. Hotel, station and shop staff will do this. The ambulance service is available for anyone in Japan.

The one rule

Say "Kyūkyū desu" (medical emergency) or "Kaji desu" (fire), then where you are. If you do not know the address, describe a nearby building or intersection as a landmark. The full five-step 119 script and the list of symptoms that need an ambulance are in the manual.

The live warnings, in your language

Japan Disaster Guide is a free iPhone app that delivers JMA warnings for the places you save, after JMA confirms them, in 7 languages, with 115,000+ evacuation sites on a map.

Free on the App Store See the Japan Travel Safety Kit

The full procedures, the 119 script, shelter life, the 171 steps, 21 pointing cards and the worksheets are in the Japan Travel Safety Manual, a 66-page PDF made to read on a phone.

Get the manual ($9.99 PDF)
Sources (read 2026-09-09; quotations are verbatim)
  1. Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Guide for Ambulance Services (English, PDF). https://www.fdma.go.jp/publication/portal/items/portal001_pamphiet_english.pdf
  2. JNTO, Japan Visitor Hotline. https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/hotline/
  3. JNTO, Staying Safe in Japan. https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/emergencies/
  4. Japan Coast Guard, 海の「事件・事故」は118番 (Japanese). https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/info/kouhou/post-1274.html

Japan Disaster Guide is an independent app. It is not affiliated with the Japan Meteorological Agency or any government body. In an emergency, follow the instructions of local officials.

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