Japan Care Concierge coordinates across Kanagawa and the greater Tokyo area, so a family caring for a parent in Tokyo is inside our service footprint. We do not claim a physical office in every ward; on-the-ground operations sit with our parent operator, Cross Heart (Social Welfare Corporation Shinkou Fukushikai, 社会福祉法人 伸こう福祉会), in Kanagawa, and in Tokyo we coordinate locally and online. We are clear about that distinction so you know exactly what you are getting.

The care system is national: Tokyo uses Japan's long-term care insurance like the rest of the country. The local entry point is the community comprehensive support center (地域包括支援センター), and Tokyo has a specific quirk worth knowing before you call. Many of its 23 wards rebrand these centers under their own names, so the term you search for may not match the sign on the door. In Kita Ward they are 高齢者あんしんセンター (elderly anshin centers), in Koto Ward 長寿サポートセンター, in Chuo Ward おとしより相談センター, and in Toshima and Katsushika Wards 高齢者総合相談センター. They are all the same legal thing performing the same role. If you only search the standard term, you can wrongly conclude your parent's ward has no center.

As in every municipality, which center handles your case is set by your parent's home address, and the assignment is by ward and district. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government publishes a directory of every support center and home-care support center in the metropolis, which is the reliable way to find the one tied to a specific address. The center is staffed by a team, typically including a social worker, a public health nurse, and a care-management specialist, and it handles the first consultation, long-term care insurance guidance, applications, elder-abuse and rights issues, and care-plan creation. The realistic first step is the same everywhere: find the assigned center, make contact, and start a care-needs certification (要介護認定).

For a foreign family, the friction is partly the language and partly this naming inconsistency across wards. The centers operate in Japanese, and each ward's website is structured differently, which makes self-service slow when you are abroad or under time pressure.

JCC reduces that. We identify the correct support center for your parent's specific Tokyo ward and address, under whatever local name that ward uses, prepare you for the consultation, and translate what the care manager proposes and what it costs. In greater Tokyo we coordinate locally and run the full process online for families living overseas, acting as your point of contact. For options that cross into Kanagawa, our operator's facilities there give us direct insight.

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.