The muscle memory is 911, and in Japan it gets you nothing. Japan splits its emergency line in two — 110 for the police, 119 for fire and ambulance — and both are free, answered around the clock, and reachable from almost any phone in the country. You do not need good Japanese to use them either; the calls run on a handful of fixed phrases and one landmark. Here is which number to dial, what the operator asks first, and exactly what to say back.
What number do you call in an emergency in Japan?
110 for the police and 119 for fire and ambulance — those are the only two you need. 110 reaches the 警察 (keisatsu, police) and covers crime, theft, assault, a traffic accident, or anyone behaving dangerously. 119 reaches the 消防 (shōbō, fire service), which covers fires and every medical emergency, because Japan's fire departments are the people who operate the ambulances. Both numbers are free from any phone that can make voice calls, both work anywhere in the country, and neither ever closes. There is a third number worth knowing if you are on the water: 118 reaches the Japan Coast Guard. Everything else fits in one sentence — police is 110, fire and bodies is 119.
Does 911 work in Japan?
No. Dialling 911 in Japan does not reach the police, the fire service or an ambulance, and in a genuine emergency that is the worst possible place to lose ten seconds. What does work is nearly every phone you might be holding: 110 and 119 are free from mobiles, landlines and public payphones, and on a green or grey payphone you dial them straight through without inserting a coin or a card (older units have a red emergency button — lift the receiver, press it, then dial). On an iPhone or Android you can place the call from the lock screen without unlocking first. The one real trap is the setup a lot of tourists arrive with: a data-only travel SIM or a pocket wifi router carries no voice service at all, so no emergency number will connect. If that is you, use a payphone, ask the konbini counter, or grab the nearest person and let them dial.
What do you say when the operator answers?
Answer the opening either/or question, then say what you need — the whole call is built from set phrases. On 110 the first thing you hear is 事件ですか、事故ですか (jiken desu ka, jiko desu ka), "a crime or an accident?"; reply 事件です (jiken desu) or 事故です (jiko desu). On 119 it is 火事ですか、救急ですか (kaji desu ka, kyūkyū desu ka), "fire or medical?"; reply 火事です (kaji desu) or 救急です (kyūkyū desu), then 救急車をお願いします (kyūkyūsha o onegai shimasu), "an ambulance, please." If you would rather someone else made the call, the two sentences to have memorised are 警察を呼んでください (keisatsu o yonde kudasai) and 救急車を呼んでください (kyūkyūsha o yonde kudasai) — "please call the police / an ambulance." To stop anyone at all, 助けてください (tasukete kudasai), "please help me," carries across a street.
How do you give your location in Japanese?
Read out whatever is written nearest to you, because the dispatcher needs a findable place far more than a correct address. Say 場所は〜です (basho wa … desu), "the location is …", and fill the gap with a station name, a convenience store branch, a hotel or a big intersection — landmarks are what dispatchers work from all day. Japan helpfully prints its addresses into the street furniture: almost every vending machine has a sticker down its side with the full address, and utility poles carry a plate with the block number, so there is usually something to read aloud within a few steps. If you genuinely do not know where you are, ask a passer-by ここはどこですか (koko wa doko desu ka), "where is this?", or just show them your phone's map. Mobile calls are usually located automatically, but say the landmark anyway — it is faster than a trace.
Is there English support on 110 and 119?
Yes — both services can pull a three-way interpreter onto the call, so lead with 英語を話せる人はいますか (eigo o hanaseru hito wa imasu ka), "is there someone who speaks English?", and then keep your sentences short and slow. It is not instant, so give the number and the landmark first and let the interpreter fill in the detail. For everything that is urgent-feeling but not an emergency, two other lines are better: the JNTO Japan Visitor Hotline on 050-3816-2787 runs 24 hours a day in English, Chinese and Korean for accidents, illness and lost property, and #7119 is the medical consultation line that tells you whether what you are describing warrants an ambulance at all. If your trouble is a fever or a stomach that turned on you, our reel on saying you have a fever at the drugstore covers the pharmacy version of this conversation.
When is a koban faster than calling 110?
Whenever nobody is in danger — which is most of what actually happens to travellers. A 交番 (kōban) is a neighbourhood police box, roughly 6,000 of them nationwide, staffed around the clock and almost always planted beside a station exit or a major crossing. Walking into one beats a phone call for a lost wallet, a bag taken from a café, a phone left on a train, or simply not knowing where you are, and the officer speaks to you in person instead of over a bad line. It is also where you get paperwork: the 盗難届 (tōnan todoke) theft report is the document your travel insurer will ask for, and no phone call produces it. The phrases that cover nearly every kōban visit are 財布をなくしました (saifu o nakushimashita), "I lost my wallet," and 道に迷いました (michi ni mayoimashita), "I'm lost." Our reel on how a koban gets your dropped phone back shows what the counter looks like when you walk in.
Is an ambulance free in Japan?
The ride is free; the hospital is not. Japan does not bill you for the ambulance itself, no matter how far it takes you, but the treatment at the other end is charged and overseas visitors are normally asked to settle at the counter and claim it back later — which is the entire argument for travel insurance. What that free ride is not is a shortcut past a taxi queue: if the person can walk and it can wait until morning, take a taxi to a clinic instead, and our reel on asking the front desk to call a taxi has the phrase for that. If you are somewhere between the two and cannot judge it, ring #7119 before 119. In summer the most common reason visitors end up dialling at all is heat — our guide to heatstroke in Japan and how to ask for help walks through the symptoms that mean stop self-treating and call.
Two numbers, one landmark, and four short phrases will carry you through almost any emergency in Japan: 110, 119, 場所は〜です, and 救急車を呼んでください. Put them in your phone's notes before you fly, because the moment you need them is not the moment to go looking. While you are at it, the other alarm that catches visitors off guard is the earthquake warning your phone fires without asking — our reel on why your phone suddenly screams in Japanese explains what it is saying. For more phrases that make the difficult moments survivable, browse all our travel reels.