My girlfriend is finally taking the trip of her dreams to Tokyo (from Florida). She has always wanted to visit it and planned out a very detailed itinerary. The first few days, she was living her dream.
Unfortunately, a chronic ankle injury has flared up due to all the walking in Tokyo. She currently feels trapped in her hotel room because she is unable to walk reliably. She is going to a pharmacy when it opens to see if she can get crutches or something, but I don’t know if that’ll work. She also does not have health insurance.
This trip was taken from her by various abusive people in her life, on multiple occasions. Now she believes that she has taken it away from herself and is seriously implying that she will commit suicide in Japan.
I am worried about her mental and physical health. I’m still in Florida, so there isn’t much I can do to help. Does anyone have any ideas on resources in Tokyo that I can leverage to help her?
Thanks so much for any help you can provide.
10 comments
Appreciate it’s not ideal but surely she can just come home?
Does she not have travel insurance, I know you said she doesn’t have health insurance but they are different things.
See [this](https://telljp.com/lifeline/).
The department of state website recommends calling the nearest consulate or embassy if you’re concerned about the safety of a loved one. Here’s a [link](https://www.usembassy.gov/) for you.
It sounds like she’s immensely disappointed by her physical health which is understandable, but if she’s insinuating suicide, she needs to fly home.
Edit: I’m not sure if posting phone numbers is okay here, but if you google “getting help in an emergency us embassy”, you’ll likely get in touch with someone sooner. Best of luck to you both.
Where she is staying? My wife (28) and I (30) from Atlanta are vacationing over here in Japan right now. We just left the Moxy by Marriott hotel in Tokyo. We can give great recommendations for some cafes near her if she wants to have a chill day while the weather continues being gross.
My dad tore his miniscus playing soccer with my son on his second day in Japan. We took a day off for rest and I got him a (hot pink) cane from my local pharmacy and he was back in action (although at a greatly reduced pace).
There are plenty of things to do that don’t require massive walking around. Loads of bus tours, hot springs, shows.
If it’s really bad she should have a doctor check it out. Even without health insurance it’s much cheaper than what you’d get in the US.
As an example (found on google, not personal experience) there are these guys: https://tsocs.jp/english who should be able to have a quick look and probably sell her a brace.
She may want to try calling the [Tokyo English Lifeline](https://telljp.com/). They have an anonymous emergency line, that can provide some support, but I’m not sure if she’ll have access to many resources as a non-resident.
I sprained my ankle really badly in Tokyo in 2019 and went to the JR Tokyo General Hospital, they x-rayed it, gave me some pain killers and I hired some crutches from them. It was £80 (I think about $100) at the time so didn’t go through the insurance as that was cheaper than my travel insurance excess was. It was difficult but I was still able to get around Tokyo and try and make the most of my holiday. Hope she’s ok.
It was nowhere near as serious, but in ’07 I slipped on Mt. Misen on Miyajima and did something to my hand. I didn’t have travel insurance or any health insurance within Japan.
I went to a walk-in clinic in Osaka. Yes, it took several hours. Yes, it is not an ideal way to spend your vacation. They saw me, did an X-ray, gave me some over the counter pain patches and some supplies for 5000 yen (which they discounted to 3700 yen because I was a pathetic foreigner.)
I don’t know where she is staying, but send her to a walk in clinic. See what they can do for her. Medical care in Japan even without insurance is substantially cheaper than in the US.
I want to say I was given salonpas patches. They are now over the counter in the US as well, but were not in ’07. She should get some and put some on her ankle and keep it elevated. If she is not tattooed, look into a day of going to the onsen, I find that helps enormously with aches and pains.
I don’t know how to help with the suicidal ideation, outside of having her call one of the numbers already supplied.
I bought a Velcro brace like thing. I would imagine a pharmacy in Japan would have something like that.
her health insurance wouldn’t matter in japan anyways; she’ll likely find it cheaper to not have insurance in japan than it is to have insurance for the same service in the USA