Have had a nightmare few days but I fly out today and hope that I can get a medical assessment in the next country.
I injured my neck a couple of weeks ago which was exacerbated by backpacking Japan with 14kg on me. I believe it was impacting the nerves in my neck and got so bad I had pain and tingles throughout my back, hands, neck, and jaw. I had to rest at the hostel during the day to manage the pain.
A few days ago, I lost muscle control in my lower body. I immediately called a taxi for the local emergency department. I spoke to an English-speaking nurse who seemed very empathetic and understood the gravity of the situation. After leaving and coming back, she said there was nothing they could do because it was night time (it was 7pm) and I should come back in the morning. I tried to emphasise I needed help now or could have a permanent disability, clarified that I could pay for any help they gave me. She said she could call in the doctor but he isn’t a specialist and could only give me pain relief (I wasn’t in pain at that time).
I asked if she could transfer me to a hospital that could help me, she said no. I asked if she could help me make a phone call to other hospitals to see if they could take me (I don’t have a Japanese sim), she said no because they won’t answer the phone. I said can we at least try, she said no.
My Japanese friend helped me call 3 other hospital emergency departments for me (and yes, they did answer the phone), all of which said that they couldn’t get a specialist in to look at me and I should try again tomorrow morning or try a different hospital. After a few hours I gave up because I seemed to have full control of my body back and no hospital was helping me.
The next day I went to Kyoto university hospital, which is the largest hospital in Kyoto and the 4th biggest hospital in all of Japan. I explained the situation to reception who passed on the info to a doctor via phone. The doctor said he wouldn’t see me because they were too busy. I broke down crying and so they gave me the number of a local doctor who speaks English. I called the doctors surgery and they said they wouldn’t see me until Monday (it was Friday) because they don’t do afternoon consultations. I tried to call the Australian embassy in Japan but the line was consistently busy.
Now I still have nerve pain and some numbness but no other issues. I’m horrified that no one would help me and have been in a state of high anxiety over the last few days knowing that if I lost muscle control again, no medical professional in Japan cares. In every instance I clarified I can pay out of pocket whatever it costs, but no one would help.
Is this normal? What happens if someone has a life threatening illness? Is this treatment potentially because I’m a foreigner and don’t speak Japanese?
Up until this point I loved Japan but now I’m afraid about ever coming back.
Edit to add: I hadn’t realised ambulances were free or prioritised. In my country it costs $600 to call an ambulance and provision of healthcare is given regardless of how you enter the hospital. Obviously for anyone reading this and considering going to Japan – important to know that ambulances are free and given priority.
29 comments
Do you think this is because you’re perceived as a dirty unwashed COVID-spreading foreigner? Or because they don’t want to have to speak English to you?
Have you tried calling an ambulance? 119 is the number. Then when you’re at the hospital they should be able to tell you the cost after an examination, and you may need to pay in cash.
>I immediately called a taxi for the local emergency department.
So this was your mistake. Call an ambulance instead. They’re not affiliated with any specific hospital and will call around until they find somewhere to take you. Ambulances are free here. Dial 119 and they’ll do the rest.
Is a pinched nerve a medical emergency?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiculopathy
> I tried to emphasise I needed help now or could have a permanent disability
Is that based on an expert medical opinion?
I hope you are going back to Australia. Don’t continue backpacking-it isn’t worth it.
A helpful number to call when in major cities in Japan is #7119 (you will need Japanese). It’s an intermediary emergency number that you can consult and based on symptoms they will tell you if you might need an ambulance or suggest hospitals that will see you.
Also most specialists require a reference to see, so one would generally see a general practitioner (basically any doctor) first.
Did you have a travel insurance with medical coverage? My experience even in countries with government/subsidized medical care, if you’re a foreigner who is not a part of that, hospitals are hesitant to provide care unless they have some guarantee that you can pay for the entire care.
I’m not doubting you but if you show up at a hospital with no obvious wound and claim an ailment that they might need to run tests to confirm and they’re not satisfied that you can pay, they can pull a “willful ignorance” and try to get you to leave. Even if you can pay for the tests, if they run some tests and if those tests confirm the medical emergencies, they might be obligated to admit you when they don’t know if you have the means to pay for the entire care.
Yes it sucks. As much as people pile on the US healthcare and rightly so, if you show up at an emergency room, unless it’s patently obvious you’re malingering, they’ll provide care. You gonna be billed what you might need a lifetime to pay back, but you’ll get care.
So we always travel with medical insurance including med evac. The primary purpose for the past few years have been the incidentals that might be incurred if we test positive for Covid before departure but it’d cover your situation as well.
Yeah this is normal, unfortunately, especially if you are not in a major city. I always make jokes about what if you have a heart attack on Sat or a major car accident on Sunday? You have to wait until Monday to get help. I really wonder how more people don’t die from not getting medical care on time in this country. It’s so weird how major hospitals can be like it’s the weekend time to close.
I’m so sorry for your frustrating and scary experience. There is a big issue with Japanese medical facilities not treating foreigners, or anyone without the national health insurance.
Recently, civilians who work in Japan for the US government found they lost their medical benefits on base and have to find treatment (for everything including emergencies) at local medical facilities, only to be turned away or charged 200 percent more. Japanese officials say they were not notified of this change nor given notice to expect an influx of foreigners seeking medical care. It has resulted in [loss of life](https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2023-02-08/civilian-health-care-japan-social-media-9082404.html). I know access to medical care here is treated differently than other parts of the world, yet I wonder if your situation is in someway related to this.
I hope you are able to regain your normal sense of feeling soon and not experience any further health issues.
Did you try your travel insurance? I had an issue in a different foreign country and the insurance company found me medical care. Before travelling it was suggested if not life threatening to phone them first, they have a better chance of getting me service then I would.
Surprising, taking a taxi for a medical emergency sounds like an American mistake. It as others have mentioned, calling an ambulance would most likely have gotten you the care you needed, as they are the ones who’s job it is to call around and find a place that will take you.
Japan let a child die at the Okinawa Rycom Mall, she fell four stories, due to her being SOFA status. The ambulance wouldn’t transport due to the fact that care in Japan isn’t an obligation like it is in many other countries.
Yeah they don’t stay all night. I’m surprised that they let you in at all.
Next time you call an ambulance.
Why aren’t you using travel insurance?
I’m sorry you had this experience. I’ve only had good experiences with Japanese healthcare. I have US private insurance that covers overseas care as well, but have always just paid out of pocket because medical care is so cheap (at least by US standards). Last time I was in Kyoto last summer, my child had an issue that required urgent attention, and was able to get seen by a specialist with Kyoto University the same day — something that likely would have taken weeks in the US. And the bill was like $20.
I think a key difference though is that I speak Japanese. Having someone who speaks Japanese, and knows the Japanese culture, advocate for you probably makes the most sense. The numbers the other posters put on this thread seem good to follow up on. I had no idea ambulances in Japan are free.
Another option would be to call your country’s embassy in Japan, esp. in an emergency situation (besides calling an ambulance as others have stated).
I’m so sorry that this is happening to you.
Indeed, I have heard of a women who died during labor because she was turn away by multiple hospitals. I hope you are able to be seen by a doctor soon
The US has the “EMTALA” act; which basically guarantees that any patient that presents to emergency will not be turned away – even if there are no beds in the hospital.
Clearly, Japan does not have this law. Also, it’s so odd to me that for all the long hours Japan puts in at business jobs, when the sun goes down, health care also seems to shut down.
Welcome to Japan mate. Stories like this unfortunately aren’t rare. Japan’s medical system isn’t flawless and it sucks people have to figure it out the hard way. You’re lucky it wasn’t during the height of Covid.
> I immediately called a taxi
Ah yes, the infamous emergency taxi… ಠ_ಠ
Dude, this was the source of your problems. When you have an emergency and need urgent medical care, you call an ambulance. They will locate an appropriate hospital and take you there.
Did you have travel insurance?
That’s how Japan be. It isn’t actually perfect.
A friend died recently in Narita airport from a fall head injury. He was rejected too to multiple hospitals but I wonder why was it this even a problem. Shouldn’t they have SOPs for such problems? He ended up waiting in front of airport police station for god knows how long. It’s really disheartening to hear this stuff again and japan as efficient as they are lacks coordination in this area.
Most/all travel insurance would have covered the ambulance call-out. This is why you get travel insurance; just read the fine print because it might not cover some things like injury by riding a motorbike (for example).
Though, as it turns out, the ambulance call out is free in Japan. I did not know this until reading this thread.
I would have just called an ambulance in any serious situation (to answer your question: what if it’s life threatening) and just taken onboard the cost and deal with travel insurance later. After all, if my health is at risk that’s more important.
In Australia, for residents, health insurance covers Ambulance call-outs and, in Victoria, at least, you can just buy annual ambulance subscription if you don’t want full health insurance. And, $600 for an ambulance call-out in Australia seems to be on the low side.
I’ve seen so many foreign YouTubers in Japan who’ve had botched treatment in Japan, I don’t know if it’s the xenophobia towards foreigners or what, but wouldn’t expect it in Japan.
That’s bullshit, I’d tell that First Lady unless you want to be paralyzed like me CALL THE FUCKING DOCTOR BITCH, when it’s my life on the line ill do what it takes ffs I hope you got what you needed from them because that’s not cool
Are you sure you have medical insurance?
If so, you should be able to get through to the call center for foreigners.
They will provide you with the appropriate hospital and take care of everything.
You should not have to find the hospital yourself.
If you were denied, then you should sue your insurance company.
But I’ve never heard of anyone being denied even though they have insurance.
Thank you for posting this warning! Some of these responses are a bit disconcerting with the lack of empathy! I hope you’re all right now mate.
That sounds typical of the healthcare setting, not because you are a foreigner. I live in the UK where we have the NHS which is overrun, and you would have probably been left waiting in A+E for over 20 hours in a big city hospital here, maybe given some pain relief, people with your symptoms also wait over a year to see a neurosurgeon for these things if not many many months, being a family doctor myself and having also done an elective in one of Tokyo’s hospitals, it is super busy and doctors are overworked in Japan too.
Also in emergency you should call an ambulance not a taxi, like everyone else has said
Well I’m sad this has happened. If it’s an emergency ring and ambulance, it shouldn’t really matter but thats how things are there unfortunately