Kawasaki is one of the municipalities in the Kanagawa footprint of Social Welfare Corporation Shinkou Fukushikai (社会福祉法人 伸こう福祉会), which operates care services under the Cross Heart name. For families here, JCC can start from that local knowledge, and in-person support is available here as anywhere in Japan.

The funding and rules are national: care in Kawasaki uses Japan's long-term care insurance, the same as everywhere else. The local entry point is the city's community comprehensive support center (地域包括支援センター).

Kawasaki is explicit about how these work, which makes them easy to use. They are public consultation windows commissioned by the city. Consultation is free. Staff will take your call by phone or come to your parent's home for the consultation. Which center handles you is set by your parent's home address, so find the center assigned to that address rather than the nearest one on a map.

What these centers do is broad. They handle general elder-care consultation and rights protection, including elder-abuse prevention. They also support care managers, write care plans for people who need lighter support and run care-prevention services. They also keep what they learn confidential, which matters when a family is nervous about a parent's situation.

For most families the realistic path is one phone call to the assigned center, a home visit and then a care-needs certification (要介護認定) to unlock services. Kawasaki organizes services by ward, so a family in Takatsu works with different local providers than one in Tama or Kawasaki Ward. Confirm the ward early.

For a foreign family, the structure is friendly but the language usually is not. The centers operate in Japanese. The home-visit model is convenient, but it assumes you can follow a care manager's explanation on the spot. Kanagawa Prefecture runs a foreign-resident consultation service covering many languages including English. It is a useful general window, not a care-planning service.

JCC bridges that. We find the correct support center for your parent's Kawasaki address, prepare you for the free consultation or home visit and interpret what the care manager proposes and what it will cost. If your parent is in Kawasaki and you are abroad, planning and reporting can begin online. In-person attendance is scheduled once the scope is agreed.

Getting medical care

To find a clinic or hospital that can see your parent in English or another language, start with Medical Information Net, nicknamed Navii (医療情報ネット ナビイ), run by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. In April 2024 it replaced the separate search systems each prefecture used to run, so every prefecture's medical institutions are now searched there. The site has an English interface, and its detailed search can filter by foreign-language support. Language details are reported by each institution, so phone ahead to confirm.

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) keeps an English page called "Guide for when you are feeling ill". Its medical institution search filters by prefecture, language and department, and the page explains how a visit to a Japanese hospital works. It is written for visitors, but the steps are the same for a parent who lives here.

Kanagawa is covered by #7119. The prefecture runs the Kanagawa emergency consultation center (かながわ救急相談センター) across the whole prefecture, 24 hours a day, every day. A nurse helps decide whether to call an ambulance or see a doctor now, and staff can name a medical institution that is open. Telephone interpretation covers 14 languages, including English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese.

From a landline with a 042 area code, #7119 connects to Tokyo instead, so dial 045-232-7119 or 045-523-7119. If the situation is clearly an emergency, call 119.

Related guidance

Official local references

Local specifics on this page are drawn from official sources:

See all areas we cover. Local details vary by ward and change over time; our editorial policy explains how we source and correct content.