Travel Insurance in Japan: Sign Up Before You Get Sick | How to Buy Travel Insurance Online or at the Airport After Arriving in Japan

■Why This Matters

Traveling means new food, a different climate, long days on your feet, and crowded trains and streets. Even healthy travelers get sick. Data from travel medicine and insurance claims suggest that roughly 4% of international travelers need some form of medical care during a trip abroad. Over a one- or two-week stay in Japan, that is not a small number: in a group of 25 travelers, one will, on average, see a doctor.

The most common problems we see at our clinic are fever, sore throat, cough, stomach problems, dizziness, minor injuries, and skin rashes. Most are not serious. But all of them cost money to treat when you are not covered by Japanese health insurance.

■ What Medical Care Costs Without Insurance

Japan’s public health insurance does not cover short-term visitors. Without travel insurance, you pay the full cost yourself, in cash or by card, at the time of your visit.

As a rough guide:

• A doctor’s consultation with a prescription: tens of thousands of yen
• Consultation with blood tests, infectious-disease testing, or an IV drip: often 50,000–100,000 yen or more
• An emergency-room visit at a hospital, especially at night or on weekends, with imaging: 100,000–300,000 yen or more
• Hospital admission for even a few days: several hundred thousand to over a million yen
• Medical evacuation to your home country: several million yen

These amounts can end a trip and leave a lasting financial burden. Travel insurance exists precisely to prevent this.

■ Insurance Only Works If You Have It Before You Need It

This is the point we most want travelers to understand.

Travel insurance covers illnesses and injuries that begin after the policy starts. Being able to buy a policy after arrival and being covered for a problem you already have are two different things. If you sign up after you already have a fever or stomach pain, that condition is treated as pre-existing and will not be covered — what matters is not the date of diagnosis but the date your symptoms began. In addition, most policies have a cut-off date for purchase, a waiting period before coverage begins, or both.

So the right time to buy travel insurance is:

1. Before leaving your home country — the best option. Your own insurer or credit-card coverage may already include medical costs abroad; check what is covered, the maximum amount, and whether you must pay first and claim later.
2. On the day you arrive in Japan — if you forgot, or your coverage is insufficient, you can still buy a policy online, but do it on your first day, while you are healthy.

Please do not wait until you feel unwell. By then, it is too late for insurance to help.

■ Option 1: Sign Up Online From Your Smartphone (Anywhere in Japan)

You do not need to find a counter. The following policies can be purchased online with a credit card after you have arrived in Japan. Sign-up takes a few minutes and can be done at your hotel, at the airport, or on the train. Conditions below are based on public information as of September 2026; please confirm the details on the application screen.

【Tokio Marine & Nichido — JAPAN TRAVEL INSURANCE “TOKIO OMOTENASHI POLICY”】　https://japantravelinsurance.net/english.html

• Designed specifically for visitors to Japan (short stays up to 31 days)
• Must be purchased within 5 days of entering Japan, counting the day of entry
• Coverage starts from the day after you apply (00:00)
• Medical and repatriation expenses covered up to 10 million yen
• Cashless treatment can be arranged at hospitals and pharmacies through the insurer’s assistance service (advance contact required); medical interpretation in English, Chinese, and Korean
• Application in English, Chinese, or Korean; credit card (single payment); policyholder must be 18 or older and free of illness or injury at the time of application
• Example premiums: 7 days ¥4,270 / 14 days ¥7,020 / 31 days ¥13,580
• Cannot be extended

For most tourists who forgot to buy insurance, this is the simplest option — if you are still within 5 days of arrival.

【SafetyWing — Nomad Insurance Essential】 https://safetywing.com/nomad-insurance

• Can be purchased after you have already left your home country; ages 14 days to 69
• No general waiting period, but for any illness or accident occurring within 72 hours of purchase, additional documentation showing that symptoms began after purchase is required
• Overall limit US$250,000; no deductible on the current Essential plan
• In Japan, outpatient care is generally pay first, claim later; direct payment may be arranged for hospital admission on a case-by-case basis
• Pre-existing conditions are not covered; some nationality restrictions apply
• Example premium: about US$63 for 28 days (ages 18–39)

【World Nomads】 https://www.worldnomads.com

• Available after departure for residents of certain countries; conditions differ by your country of residence (select your home country, not Japan)
• Waiting period for medical coverage: typically 72 hours (e.g., Australian residents) or 48 hours (e.g., Canadian residents)
• Deductible and limits vary by plan; smaller bills are paid by you and claimed later, larger bills and admissions are coordinated through emergency assistance

【Genki — Genki Traveler】 https://genki.world

• Available after departure, up to age 69, for 1–12 months
• Start date is at the earliest 4 days after application, and if you had no insurance immediately before, coverage in the first 14 days is limited to accidents and life-threatening emergencies
• Suitable for longer stays or seamless switching from another policy — not suitable for a short-term visitor who needs coverage right away

Note: Sompo Japan’s inbound travel insurance for individual travelers is currently not on sale, so it is not listed here.

■ Option 2: Insurance Counters at the Airport

【Kansai International Airport (KIX) — Osaka】 Travel insurance for foreign visitors to Japan is sold at the insurance counters operated by Kansai Airport Retail Service, which handles policies from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, Tokio Marine & Nichido, and Sompo Japan, with support in English, Korean, and Chinese. Sign up right after you clear immigration, before you leave the airport.

【Narita Airport and Haneda Airport — Tokyo】 Both airports have travel insurance counters operated by Tokio Marine & Nichido (Narita Terminal 1 and 2 departure floors, Haneda Terminal 3 departure lobby) and Sompo Japan (Haneda Terminal 3), as well as self-service machines from Tokio Marine & Nichido, Mitsui Sumitomo, and AIG. Many of these are located in the departure areas and are aimed mainly at travelers leaving Japan, so please confirm at the counter that a policy for visitors is available — or simply use the online options above.

■ If You Are Already in Osaka — Namba, Shinsaibashi, Umeda, Kyoto

There are no dedicated inbound-insurance kiosks in the city center that we can recommend. The practical answer is the same everywhere: use your smartphone. Whether you are at your hotel, at Namba or Shinsaibashi Station near our clinic, in Umeda, or at Kyoto Station, online sign-up takes only a few minutes and is valid throughout Japan.

If you are within 5 days of arrival, the Tokio Marine & Nichido policy above will cover you from the next day. If more than 5 days have passed, SafetyWing can be purchased at any time during your stay.

Please complete your sign-up before you become unwell — not on your way to the clinic. Insurance purchased after symptoms have started will not pay for that illness.

■ How Insurance Works When You Visit Our Clinic

If you have travel insurance, please bring:

• Your policy number and the insurer’s contact details (a screenshot is fine)
• Your passport

At reception, we will ask when your symptoms began and when your policy started. This is a standard requirement of insurers, and we record it accurately in your medical record so that your claim goes smoothly.

Depending on your insurer, we can either:

• Arrange cashless treatment through your insurer’s assistance company (available for Tokio Marine & Nichido’s TOKIO OMOTENASHI POLICY when the assistance service is contacted in advance), or
• Provide itemized receipts and a medical certificate in English so you can claim the cost back from your insurer after your visit (the usual route for SafetyWing, World Nomads, and Genki outpatient visits).

Whether a specific visit is covered is ultimately decided by your insurer under the terms of your policy. Without insurance, full payment is required at the time of your visit. We accept major credit cards.

■ What We Can Do at Our Clinic

• English-speaking medical care for travelers
• Same-day appointments
• Diagnosis and treatment of fever, sore throat, cough, gastrointestinal illness, injuries, rashes, and other common travel illnesses
• COVID-19 and influenza testing, blood tests, and IV fluid therapy
• Prescription medications
• Direct billing and correspondence with international insurance and assistance companies
• Medical documents in English for insurance claims
• Referral to hospitals when needed

■ Appointment

International Clinic Osaka Shinsaibashi (ICOS) provides same-day English-speaking medical care for international visitors. Please sign up for travel insurance before you need us — ideally before you leave home, and at the latest on your first day in Japan.

Address: 4F Zenith Building, 1-13-25 Nishi-Shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan

Phone: +81-6-6484-6392

Email: c.icos@international-clinic-osaka.com

c.icos@international-clinic-osaka.com