Japan Has Two Emergency Numbers. The One That Brings an Ambulance Is Not the One You'd Guess.
To say Call 119, please in Japanese, say ひゃくじゅうきゅうばん、お願いします (hyaku-jūkyū-ban, onegai shimasu).
There is no 911 in Japan. There are two numbers, and the one that brings an ambulance is not the one you would guess.
ひゃくじゅうきゅうばん、お願いします
hyaku-jūkyū-ban, onegai shimasu
Call 119, please
In this video
- 救急車は、ひゃくじゅうきゅうばんです。 Kyūkyūsha wa, hyaku-jūkyū-ban desu. For an ambulance, it is 119.
- ひゃくじゅうきゅうばん、お願いします。 Hyaku-jūkyū-ban, onegai shimasu. Call 119, please.
Why this phrase
Japan splits emergencies across two numbers: 110 goes to the police, and 119 goes to the fire department, which also runs every ambulance in the country. So anyone hurt, sick or collapsed is a 119 call. The number is spoken as one word, 「ひゃくじゅうきゅうばん」, not as three digits.
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