Hi everyone – just got back from a 2 week trip in Japan. Had an incredible time and it was my first one. I thought I would share my overall great experience having to seek medical care for a women’s health issue while on vacation, as it can seem really scary to obtain medical care in a foreign country where not everyone speaks English and I didn’t have traveler’s insurance. Also, as it didn’t seem like there were a lot of primary care doctors, I was worried about being able to see a specialist.
With a little digging online and with help from our hotel concierge in Tokyo, I was able to to see an English speaking doctor in Ginza and receive a prescription WITHIN 1-2 hours. I was fully ready to have to wait at the doctor’s office all day since that has been my experience dropping into urgent care clinics here in the US. Furthermore, even without travel insurance, I paid less than $200 for everything (consultation, test and prescription). Coming from the U.S., that is pretty cheap to me. I also contacted another international health clinic in Tokyo and they would have been able to see me same-day and their pricing for foreign tourists was less than $50-100.
It was such a relief that obtaining medical care was pretty easy, so if you find yourself in a similar situation to mine seeking minor care- just know that if you’re in a big city (Tokyo had the most options for me but Osaka and Kyoto also had some as well) you can definitely get the care you need with a bit of research done.
12 comments
That’s what Universal healthcare does, keeps the price down for everyone. Just a reminder for anyone traveling in the other direction, going to the USA, travel health insurance is an absolute must.
Going to see the doctor and getting any kind of care is going to cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars
Glad you were able to get care and hope you feel better soon!
Potentially making it even cheaper – check whether your ‘normal’ health insurance reimburses overseas healthcare.
Years ago, I slipped on Mt. Misen and ended up going to a walk in clinic in Osaka. I had to wait a small amount of time, but I still remember the bill for everything (x-ray, consultation, splint, OTC pain pads) came to 5000 yen and they then discounted it to 3700 yen because they felt bad for the stupid foreigner on vacation.
I am completely pro-Universal healthcare, I only wish other Americans appreciated how amazing it really is.
Glad you had a good experience, but I find it insane that people travel without insurance. $200 for a consult and prescription might be cheap for Americans, by comparison, but what if you needed emergency surgery and a 7 day hospital admission?
why not just say medical care?
Why make a difference if its for a women or a man. healthcare is for everyone.
I went to the ER in Japan too for a bike fall, got X ray for my wrist and a head scanner. Total was less than 300 euros (I made a post about it but got deleted by mods without proper explanation so well, I hope this one won’t be).
I just paid $65 for a pretty robust travel insurance plan for both myself and my boyfriend. I could never travel without it, but I’m super stoked to hear of your experience. It’s really encouraging to know things are smooth in case we need help.
My 70 yr old dad slipped and fell face first on to gravel causing him multiple injuries when we traveled to Korea in 2016.
We didn’t have travel insurance and just panic ran into the first hospital building we found.
Multiple X-rays, cleaning and bandaging of the wounds in his hands AND seven stitches to his face done by the head of plastic surgery. Three clinic visits later to check on the face wound and additional X-rays just to make sure there was no bone damage. All that barely costed $250… and it turned out that’s at a private hospital! They told us later since we had health insurance back home we should have presented the card and the insurance would have done the “heavy lifting” same as they would for a citizen.
On a visit to Germany I had a horrible migraine for three days bed ridden and dry heaving. On day three my friend took me to her doctor in the next village over. 45 minutes in a quiet room with an i.v. Meds and two rxs and recommendations to help recover and I walked out paying a total of 125$ for everything.
Here in Us it costs me thousands for same effort however the compassion was on the lessor side.
this is amazing to know, we bought travel insurance because I’ll be in my second trimester at that time but good to know that this is available too
Thank you for sharing, my granddaughter is traveling there and it’s nice to have that information ❤️🙏🛫!
Lmao two days in a row, I love when Americans post their experiences in Japan & how it differs in the States.