Emergency Numbers in Japan

In Iwate, there are two phone numbers you may call in case of emergency, depending on the situation. These can be called 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

For Emergency Medical Care: 119

• Emergency Medical Care

For Fires: 119

• Fire

For a Crime: 110

• Crime

For a Traffic Accident: 110

• Traffic Accidents

From a cell phone: Dial 119 or 110. You will have to describe your location.
From a fixed line: Dial 119 or 110. Your coordinates will be automatically transmitted to the receiver.
From a public telephone: Dial 119 or 110. Some models may require you to press a red “emergency call” button first. Your coordinates will be automatically transmitted to the receiver.

Unfortunately, the person on the other end of the line will only be able to speak Japanese. If you are lucky enough to have a Japanese speaker with you, leave the call up to them, but if not, you can print out the following card to communicate.

Double-sided Emergency card （link below）

Fill out the both sides of this card （along with any other important information） and put it in your wallet, so that people can help you if you become incapacitated. Consider keeping a copy at home as well, in case you lose your passport or residence card.

Saying your address

Practice saying your address in Japanese and the names of any landmarks close by. At the bare minimum, memorize the name of your neighborhood, street or block number, and apartment building name and room number if applicable.

Let’s take the Iwate Prefectural Office for example. You’ll often see its address written in English as 10-1 Uchimaru, Morioka, Iwate, JAPAN. That’s good enough for the post office, but in Japanese you would read it in reverse order:

Iwate-ken, Morioka-shi, Uchimaru, juu no ichi
（prefecture name）, （municipality name）, （neighborhood name）, （street number）

When you move into your residence, have a Japanese speaker write down your address in roman letters so you can practice saying it.