Finding welfare support in Japan
Official places in Japan where you can ask for help with money, housing, work, disability, care, family, children or mental health, and official disaster information pages to check in an emergency. If you are not sure where to start, read "Where should I go first?". Most consultations are free. Many of the linked pages are in Japanese only.
Where should I go first?
- If in doubt, go to your city, town or village office and tell the welfare section (such as the welfare office) that you need help. They will direct you to the right service.
- If you are struggling with living costs, local "self-reliance support" centres help with work, housing and household finances together (MHLW: support system for people in need, Japanese).
- Social welfare councils (organisations in every municipality that promote local welfare) also give advice on living and money problems. Prefectural and some city councils are listed under "Services by prefecture" below.
- See also the nationwide services by topic and the prefecture pages below.
Official information in a disaster
- Warnings, advisories and information on earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons: Japan Meteorological Agency disaster information (Japanese, with some English).
- Flood, landslide and other risks where you live: the hazard map portal site introduced by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (Japanese).
- Evacuation information is issued by your prefecture and municipality. Each prefecture's disaster information page is listed under "Services by prefecture" below (for prefectures checked so far).
Nationwide services by topic
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Services by prefecture
National pages for finding local services by topic (mental health, children, disability, care, domestic violence and more), and consultation pages on each prefecture's official website. Select a region to open the prefecture list.
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In an emergency or when things are hard
- If a life is in danger, call 119 (ambulance/fire) or 110 (police) without hesitation.
- If you think a child may be abused: child guidance centre hotline "189" (Children and Families Agency, Japanese).
- If you are struggling emotionally: the MHLW site "Mamorou yo Kokoro" (Japanese) lists phone and social media support services.
About this page
Only links whose pages were opened and confirmed as official sites are shown. Opening hours, eligibility and systems can change, so please check the latest information on each site. This page does not accept consultations. This site never asks for personal information, passwords or money.