Japan Embassy: 202-939-6700 Tokyo GMT +9 hrs

Entry Requirements:
Passport/Visa: Travelers should contact the closest Japanese Consulate for tourist visa information.
HIV Test: Not required.
Vaccinations: None required.
Telephone Country Code: 81

Embassies/Consulates: U.S. Embassy: 1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo; Tel: 81-3-3224-5000; Fax: 81-3-3224-5856; Web: usembassy.state.gov/tokyo, www.csjapan.doc.gov).
Consulates: 2-11-5 Nishitenma, Kita-ku, Osaka, Osaka-Kobe; Tel: 81-6-6315-5900; 2564 Nishihara, Urasoe, Naha, Okinawa; Tel: 81-98-876-4211; Kita 1-Jo Nishi 28-chome, Chuo-ku; Tel: 81-11-641-1115; 2-5-26 Ohori, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka 810-0052; Tel: 81-92-751-9331; Nishiki SIS Building 6th Floor, Naka-ku, Nagoya; Tel: 81-52-203-4011.
Canadian Embassy: 3-38 Akasaka 7-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo; Tel: 81-3-5412-6200; Fax: 81-3-5412-6289; E-mail: tokyo@dfait-maeci.gc.ca; Web: www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/ni-ka.

Hospitals / Doctors:
Health insurance is strongly recommended, owing to the high cost of treatment. There are hospitals in all major cities.
National Hospital Medical Center, Tokyo (1,000 beds); all specialties; 24-hour emergency services; Tel. (03) 202-7181.
St. Luke’s International Hospital, Tokyo (359 beds); primary facility for foreign tourists; Tel. (3) 541-5151.
National Nagoya Hospital; most specialties; Tel. (052) 951-1111.
Osaka University Hospital (1,011 beds); most specialties; Tel. (6) 451-0051.
International SOS Japan Ltd, 8th Floor, Kudan-Minami C&M Building, Kudan Minami, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Tel: (3) 5213 9011; Fax:(3) 5213 9022; Alarm Center Tel:(3) 5210 4334; Japanese Alarm Tel:(3) 5210 1515.

Accidents & Medical Insurance:
Accidents and injuries are the leading cause of death among travelers under the age of 55 and are most often caused by motor vehicle and motorcycle crashes; drownings, aircraft crashes, homicides, and burns are lesser causes.
Heart attacks cause most fatalities in older travelers.
Infections cause only 1% of fatalities in overseas travelers, but, overall, infections are the most common cause of travel-related illness.
MEDICAL INSURANCE: Travelers are advised to obtain, prior to departure, supplemental travel health insurance with specific overseas coverage. The policy should provide for direct payment to the overseas hospital and/or physician at the time of service and include a medical evacuation benefit. The policy should also provide 24-hour hotline access to a multilingual assistance center that can help arrange and monitor delivery of medical care and determine if medevac or air ambulance services are required.

Anisakiasis: Raw fish, often consumed as sushi or sashimi, is a potential source of parasitic disease. One such disease, anisakiasis, is transmitted by raw or undercooked saltwater fish, squid, or octopus. Humans are usually infected by eating herring, salmon, cod, mackerel or Pacific red snapper in which infectious larvae are present. Although the sushi bars in Japan are strictly regulated, consumption of raw fish is not without some risk. Each traveler must decide to what extent they wish to be exposed to this potential risk.

Helminthic Infections (flukes and worms):
Paragonimiasis (lung fluke disease). Prevent by not eating raw crab or crayfish or the juice of raw crabs or crayfish.
Clonorchiasis (an infection of the bile ducts by the liver fluke). The disease is transmitted by raw fish and pickled fish in vinegar (sunomono). Prevent by thoroughly cooking or freezing all freshwater fish prior to consumption.
Diphyllobothriasis (fish tapeworm disease). Prevent by not eating raw salmon.
Gnathostomiasis (a fish roundworm disease). Prevent by avoiding raw freshwater fish, as well as raw chicken, eels, and frogs.

Hepatitis: There is a generally low risk of hepatitis A, which affects less than 1% of people under 25 years of age. All nonimmune travelers, however, should consider receiving hepatitis A vaccine. The hepatitis B carrier rate in the general population is estimated at 2%. Hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for stays over 3 months and for short-term travelers wanting increased protection. Travelers should be aware that the risk of hepatitis B is increased by unsafe sex and the use of unsterile needles and syringes.

Influenza: Influenza is transmitted from November through March. Flu vaccine is recommended for travelers over age 50; travelers of any age with a chronic illness or weakened immune system; any traveler under age 50 wishing to decrease the risk of influenza; pregnant women after the first trimester.

Japanese Encephalitis (JE): Unvaccinated foreigners are at potential risk of illness in rural rice and pig farming areas where the infective mosquitoes are most active. Mosquito activity is most intense during the warmer, rainier months (April–November in Okinawa and July–September on the other islands). Highest risk of infection occurs in southeastern Japan where 80% of cases occur on Kyushu, Shikoku, and Chubu; there is negligible risk in northern Hokkaido. Vaccination against Japanese encephalitis is recommended for travelers who will be staying in endemic rural-agricultural areas for 3-4 weeks or longer during the peak transmission periods. Travelers to rural areas should also take measures to prevent mosquito bites, especially in the evening and nighttime when the mosquitoes are most active.

Lyme Disease: Sporadic cases have been reported from Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu Islands. Hikers and forest workers are at most risk. The prevalence of Lyme disease bacteria in ticks is estimated as high as 24% in some areas. Travelers to wooded, brushy, or forested areas should take measures to prevent tick bites. The vaccine previously available in the U.S. (Lymerix) does not protect against the variety of Lyme disease found in Japan.

Malaria: There is no risk of malaria in Japan.

Other Diseases/Hazards: Angiostrongyliasis (occurs mostly in the southwestern islands, in-cluding Kyushu Ryukyu), ehrlichiosis (may occur in western Japan), enterohemorrhagic E. coli infection (associated with radish sprouts in school lunches), soil-transmitted intestinal helminthic infections (an outbreak of visceral larva migrans due to Ascaris suum was reported in Kyushu in 1994), alveolar echinococcosis (reported in Hokkaido), fasciolopsiasis (giant intestinal fluke disease; prevent by thoroughly cooking all aquatic plants and vegetables), Japanese spotted fever, Kawasaki disease, tuberculosis (endemic), and typhoid fever. Air pollution is a major problem in Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama.

Schistosomiasis: Officially eradicated in 1996; no new cases reported since the late 1970s.

Scrub Typhus: Mite-borne; risk is present in grassy rural areas countrywide; incidence is highest in Kanagawa, Chiba, Miyazaki, Kagoshima Prefectures and in Akita and Niigata regions; greatest risk occurs during May and November.