I think we can all agree that unless you’re a 7-year-old overplaying a stomachache to get out of school, being sick is never fun.

It’s one thing to be sick in your home country where you speak the language and are used to the medical system, but getting sick in a foreign country where you can’t even read the alphabet can make you feel helpless, defeated, and oftentimes homesick.

This is why knowing what to do in case of a health crisis is essential when you live in a foreign country like Japan. You need to know the nearest hospitals that have English-speaking staff, so you can communicate your problems effectively, and get the care you need as soon as possible.

So, in this post, I’ll provide you with a list of some of the best English-speaking hospitals in Tokyo. I’ll also give you some tips to locate hospitals near you, and show you how you can pinpoint the English-speaking ones with ease.

Now, before I get on with the list of hospitals, let’s start with some general tips.

How to Locate English Speaking Hospitals in Japan

Although the hospitals I’ll share in this post can work for you if you’re looking for an English-speaking doctor in Tokyo, if you’re living in other major cities in Japan, or in the inaka (the Japanese countryside), the list below might not be the most helpful.

However, you can also easily locate the English-speaking hospitals near you yourself if you know what to look for and how to look for it.

For starters, as a foreigner in Japan, you should familiarize yourself with the abbreviations “JMIP” and “JIH.” JMIP is short for Japan Medical Service Accreditation for International Patients, and JIH stands for Japan International Hospitals.

These are official accreditations only hospitals that are able to serve in multiple languages can receive in Japan. When you see one of these, it means that the hospital is certified to provide medical service for foreigners in Japan and that they can at least communicate in English even if they don’t speak your native tongue.

So, if you’re living outside of Tokyo and the hospitals I’ll share below won’t be of help, in order to look up an English-speaking hospital near you, all you need to do is search “JIH or JMIP hospitals near me” online, and you’re sure to get the right results.

When Should I Go to a Hospital?

While finding an English-speaking hospital may not be much of an issue, especially if you live in a big city, knowing when to go to a hospital is another issue on its own.

As a foreigner living in a new country, it’s only natural to be unaware of the costs attached to a simple hospital visit. You might also want to avoid making a big deal out of nothing and taking up medical workers’ precious time for no reason.

So, while this should be taken with a grain of salt like all health-related advice you’ll find on the internet, I’m here to say that there are a couple of tools you can use to determine whether the symptoms you’re experiencing require a hospital visit or not — I’ll briefly introduce them before I get on with the hospital list.

First of all, if you or a loved one becomes ill or experiences symptoms that are worrying, you’ll need to decide whether you need to take them to the hospital or wait for an ambulance. After all, some injuries or illnesses may require extra care, and taking someone to the hospital yourself can even end up hurting them in certain cases.

So, what you can do in such cases is to go on Tokyo City’s online EMS Guide. The website is available in English as well, and you can answer the simple questionnaire to decide whether the patient needs to be taken to a hospital or not.

An Alternative Diagnosis Tool: Meet Ubie

If you have less severe symptoms and want to get an opinion before visiting a doctor, you can also use a private app to determine whether they warrant a hospital visit.

Ubie is a med-tech startup based in Japan, and the company works with hundreds of well-known hospitals all over Asia to bring AI, technology, and medical science together to streamline the way we get medical help.

The company has an app with the same name, and you can choose the English option to search for your symptoms and learn what type of illnesses or diseases may be causing them. While selecting the English language option causes the app to automatically assume that you’re in the U.S., it’s still a great reference as this doesn’t really affect the usability.

Ubie also can be reached via a web browser, so, you can also use the Japanese version and utilize your browser’s translation function to solve this minor issue.

Once again, I don’t advise that you use an app or an online resource to diagnose yourself; if you are experiencing concerning symptoms, it’s always best to err on the side of caution and get the opinion of a medical professional.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s get on with the best English-speaking hospitals in Tokyo.

Sanno Hospital

Address: 8-10-16 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Phone Number: +81 3-3402-3151

Sanno Hospital can be found in Akasaka in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, and the hospital has doctors who speak English. In addition, there’s also a translation service between English and Japanese to make sure that there’ll be someone who can understand you every step of the way.

This is a great all-rounder hospital as it offers services in almost all fields. There’s even a dental clinic here, as well as a well-renowned OB-GYN service. Of course, you also have the basics like internal medicine, surgery, and pediatrics, among many others.

The hospital is super easy to reach as you can simply walk there from the nearest stations, Nogizake and Aoyama-Itchome. The hospital accepts walk-in patients and visitors between 8:30-11:30 and 13:00-16:30 every day except for Sunday. To see which clinics accept walk-in patients, you can refer to the hospital website.

JCHO Tokyo Takanawa Hospital

Address: 3-chōme-10-11 Takanawa, Minato City, Tokyo 108-0074, Japan

Phone Number: +81(0)3 3443 9191

Tokyo Takanawa Hospital is another English-speaking hospital that’s located in the heart of Tokyo, in Minato Ward. The hospital has English-speaking doctors, and even the website has an English option (in addition to Chinese and Russian) to allow for easy navigation.

The hospital is large and has pretty much all of the services you may need. Services like internal medicine come standard as is the case with most hospitals, but you can also find dentists, dental surgeons, and orthopedists.

In general, walking in without an appointment is accepted, so you can get an initial consultation without an appointment. Still, if you’re able to plan in advance, I recommend calling ahead of your visit to make sure of the availability.

The hospital is easy to reach with its central location, and it only takes about ten minutes on foot to get there from the Shinagawa train station.