Finding a clinic or hospital in Osaka when you are not sure where to go

Which route fits your situation?

This sorts the official routes. It is not a way to judge how serious a condition is. If you think it is an emergency, use the first row. If you cannot tell whether you need an ambulance or a hospital, use the second.

Phone numbers in one place

As shown on the official pages on 11 October 2026. Hours and numbers change; check the page linked in each row.

What “speaks English” can mean at a clinic

A listing or a website does not tell you what you will find at the desk. Ask by phone before you go. These are the forms of help worth asking about.

• A doctor or staff member who speaks your language

  Ask whether someone there can use your language, and whether that person will be there at the time you plan to come.

• Remote medical interpreting

  Osaka Prefecture runs a 24-hour remote medical interpreting service in nine languages, including English and Korean. Medical institutions and pharmacies in the prefecture can register to use it (for pharmacies, only for dispensing). It is offered to the institutions, not to individual patients: the clinic has to be registered, and the patient is asked to agree, orally or in writing. Ask the clinic how it connects. So the question to put to a clinic is: “Do you use a remote medical interpreter?”

  大阪府24時間多言語遠隔医療通訳サービスの案内について（大阪府） Japanese

• Language-confirmation sheet and translation tools

  The prefecture publishes a pointing sheet (言語確認指差しシート) that lets a patient show which language they need. It also lists translation tools taken from a 2019 prefectural survey, and says it does not guarantee them. Neither takes the place of an interpreter.

  大阪府24時間多言語遠隔医療通訳サービスの案内について（大阪府） Japaneseおおさかメディカルネット for Foreigners（大阪府） Japanese, English, Korean and more

• A website in English

  A site that switches to English tells you about the site. It does not tell you what happens at the desk. Osaka’s own list of after-hours clinics says as much.

  おおさかメディカルネット for Foreigners（大阪府） Japanese, English, Korean and more

Where to look for a clinic

These are the official or near-official tools, from the most general to the most specific.

• Iryō Jōhō Net (Navii), the national clinic database

  医療情報ネット

  Run by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The screen switches between Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Korean. “Quick search” lists clinics open now and holiday and night facilities. “Detailed search” has department, place and “foreign language”. The City of Osaka links this database from its own medical-help page. The database is built from reports that medical institutions make to the prefecture, so the foreign-language item shows what the clinic reported. Confirm by phone before you go. The site’s own feedback form and survey are in Japanese only.

  Open Iryō Jōhō Net

• After-hours clinics in Iryō Jōhō Net

  休日夜間対応医療機関

  The Osaka page of the same database for holiday and night care, choosing an area first.

  Holiday and night, Osaka

• Osaka Medical Net for Foreigners (Osaka Prefecture)

  おおさかメディカルネット

  The prefecture’s own site for foreign residents and visitors, in ten languages including English and Korean. It explains the “special fee” for hospital visits without a referral, links to the national database and to emergency information, lists after-hours clinics (that list was current as of April 2022 and says to phone first) and collects translation tools. Parts of it are older than the rest, so treat it as a guide to where to look, and use Iryō Jōhō Net for the current list.

  Open the prefecture’s site

• Hub hospitals for foreign patients

  外国人患者受入れ拠点医療機関

  The prefecture has named hub hospitals that can take an emergency foreign patient who needs admission, and regional hub hospitals for each medical area. At the time of reading the page listed six hub hospitals. Each works within its normal range of care and cannot take every foreign patient. The page and its lists are in Japanese.

  Prefecture’s hub-hospital page (Japanese)

• A person to ask: OFIX

  大阪府外国人情報コーナー

  The Osaka Foundation of International Exchange answers questions on daily life, health and medical care included, in twelve languages. You can come in, phone or use a LINE call, and there is no charge. Email is accepted only in Japanese and English (OFIX’s English and Korean pages both say so), so for an enquiry in Korean use the phone, LINE or a visit. It is a consultation service on daily life, not a medical line. Ask OFIX what help it can give with finding care.

  OFIX, in English

Before you go

These are practical points drawn from the official pages. Ask the clinic what else it needs.

• Insurance at the desk

  マイナ保険証 / 資格確認書

  Hospital and pharmacy desks ask for your My Number card if it is registered as a health insurance card (マイナ保険証), or for the eligibility certificate (資格確認書) if you do not use it that way. The ministry says the old-style health insurance cards stopped being valid on 1 December 2025. This applies if you hold Japanese health insurance. Not everyone does; short-stay visitors, for example, may not have either document. If you have no Japanese health insurance, ask the clinic first which documents it needs and how payment works; this page does not assume an amount or your eligibility. If you hold insurance but are not sure which document you have, ask your insurer. If you joined the city’s National Health Insurance recently, see the address guide.

  Address registration guide (National Health Insurance section)

  マイナンバーカードの健康保険証利用（マイナ保険証）について（厚生労働省） Japanese

• Phone first

  予約 / 初診

  Say who the patient is and what kind of problem it is in simple words, then ask: are you taking new patients today; can I come without an appointment; is there anyone who speaks English or Korean at that time; do you use a remote medical interpreter; do I need a referral letter.

• A referral letter and the extra fee

  紹介状

  The clinic you start at can write a referral letter if you need one. Some hospitals may charge an extra fee for a first visit without it; emergency cases and some other situations may be exceptions. Check the specific hospital. The prefecture does not give an amount; ask the hospital.

  おおさかメディカルネット for Foreigners（大阪府） Japanese, English, Korean and more

• Bring someone, or ask about interpreting

  言語確認指差しシート

  If a Japanese-speaking friend can come, that helps. If not, ask whether the clinic uses the remote interpreting service. The prefecture’s language-confirmation sheet lets you point to the language you need.

  大阪府24時間多言語遠隔医療通訳サービスの案内について（大阪府） Japanese

• Written notes

  症状 / 飲んでいる薬 / アレルギー

  It helps to have the main details written down or on your phone in Japanese: since when, which medicines you already take, any allergies. The clinic will tell you what else it needs.

• At a pharmacy

  薬局

  Registered pharmacies in the prefecture can use the prefecture’s remote interpreting service for dispensing, so the same question is worth asking there: do you use a remote medical interpreter?

  大阪府24時間多言語遠隔医療通訳サービスの案内について（大阪府） Japanese

Japanese you will see at a clinic