For Families Abroad
Your parent's free first stop is the local community support center, one of about 5,487 nationwide. Nobody overseas can walk into one, and its phone hours run on Japan's clock. We make the call and report back in writing within two business days.
Remote family support
The community support center for your parent's district is free to consult and needs no referral. We prepare the questions in Japanese and send you the answers in writing. That is the difference between a link and a next step.
Long-term care insurance is run by 1,559 insurers, each with its own procedures. The share of applications decided inside the statutory 30 days ranges from 0.0% to 100.0% by insurer. Your parent's registered address decides which set of rules applies.
A certification result is legally due within 30 days. In practice the median insurer takes 39.3 days, and only 21.4% of applications are decided inside 30 days. From abroad, the hardest part is knowing what to do while you wait.
Relatives and providers each describe one slice of the situation. The home-visit assessment is where the whole picture goes on the record, and it happens in Japanese without you. We write the account that assessor needs to see.
The application goes to the municipal long-term care insurance desk, while free consultation goes to the community support center. They are separate windows with separate jobs. Both run in Japanese during Japanese business hours.
A fall or a discharge date can force a decision in days, while certification runs to a median of 39.3 days. The two clocks do not match. We build the interim private support that covers the gap.
Overseas relatives need one record of what changed and who approves the next step. You get a written English summary after each municipal or clinic step. Questions are answered within two business days.
The first consultation is 30 minutes and free. You leave it with the next step named and the desk named, and you get the scope and fee in writing before anything is billed. We take no referral fees from facilities or providers.
We turn what relatives and providers have told you into one written account the assessor and the doctor can both use. That document is what the doctor's written opinion draws on at certification.
We call the municipal desk and the care manager during Japanese business hours, while you sleep. The outcome is waiting in writing when you wake.
Covered home care runs at 10% to 30% of cost up to the monthly ceiling for the care level. Facility care adds room and board on top of that co-payment. We put both on one table so the family compares real numbers.
How It Actually Moves
Public care runs through the municipality of the parent's registered address. Five steps sit between the first question and a working care plan, and only one of them needs someone physically in Japan. Procedures and timing vary by insurer, so confirm each with the local desk.
Everything starts from the parent's registered address. The municipal long-term care insurance desk takes applications, and the community support center takes questions for free from residents aged 65 and over. Neither needs a referral.
The application is filed with the municipality, and it starts the statutory 30-day clock. Family members or the community support center can file it when nobody is in Japan. Nothing else moves until this is in.
A home-visit assessment and the doctor's written opinion follow the application. This is the step that needs someone reachable in Japan. Parents routinely understate their difficulties on assessment day, so a written account of daily life should be in the assessor's hands.
The result is legally due in 30 days, but the median insurer takes 39.3 days and only 21.4% land inside the deadline. Plan on six weeks rather than four. A care manager then writes the care plan, and that step carries no co-payment.
Covered services run at 10% to 30% of cost up to a monthly ceiling that rises from 5,032 units at Support 1 to 36,217 units at Care 5. English reporting and anything above the ceiling are private. That gap is where overseas families most often need help.
A concise situation summary for family members and local conversations
Questions prepared for the municipal desk and the care manager meeting
A comparison table for home care, facility care and private support
An escalation plan naming who is called first when something changes
Tell us where the parent is registered, what changed and what decision is coming.
We name the first local conversation and the documents it needs before it happens.
If you continue, the scope and fee come in writing, then a written update after each step.
Three patterns cover most overseas-family cases. In each, the work starts with a written record of facts the family can act on before committing money.
A daughter in Singapore hears her mother in Kanagawa is missing appointments. We write the account the assessor and doctor need, then call the municipal desk during Japanese hours. She receives what happened and what she has to approve, in writing.
A father is about to be discharged after a fall, and the hospital wants an answer about where he goes. Discharge dates move in days, while certification runs to a median of 39.3 days. We compare home care against facility options and set up private support to bridge the gap.
A parent lives alone and nothing has gone wrong yet. We name the local contacts, write the escalation rules and file the certification application early, because the wait runs past a month. Building this while things are calm costs far less than doing it mid-crisis.
The first consultation is 30 minutes and free. Ongoing work is quoted in writing before it starts, based on how many institutions are in play. We take no referral fees from facilities or providers.
Yes. The certification application can be filed by the community support center when nobody is in Japan, and the free consultation happens online. Only the home-visit assessment genuinely needs someone reachable locally.
Most coordination work does not require live meetings. We rely on written summaries the family can read in their own time, and answer questions within two business days. Live conversations are scheduled into your evening and reserved for decisions.
No. We prepare English summaries of Japanese-language conversations and documents, and help the family respond in a form local contacts can use.
A result is legally due in 30 days, but the median insurer takes 39.3 days and only 21.4% are decided inside the deadline. The slowest insurers average 80.6 days. Plan on six weeks rather than four, and arrange private support for the wait.
We are not an emergency service, and urgent medical or safety situations go to 119 and local emergency services. What we can prepare in advance is the escalation plan: who is called first, who holds keys and who informs the family.
No. The care manager writes the care plan and licensed providers deliver the care, both under public insurance. We prepare the family side of those conversations and report back in English.
The parent's registered address is the one thing we cannot start without, because it decides which municipality handles the case. Beyond that, bring whatever you have on health, current providers and who decides in the family.
Read these before the first call to Japan. The insurance guide covers the 30-day rule and what the real wait looks like.
How overseas families can organize information and next steps.
Elderly Parent Living Alone in Japan While Family Lives AbroadA practical risk checklist for parents who live alone.
Long-Term Care Insurance BasicsA starting point for understanding Japan's public elderly care system.
Cost of Elderly Care in Japan for Families AbroadPublic insurance, facility fees, and the costs families actually pay.
What a Care Manager in Japan Does for a Foreign FamilyHow care managers fit in and what to prepare before meeting one.
Home Care CoordinationPractical coordination around home-care providers and family updates.
Online SupportWhat can be handled online, and where on-the-ground support is Kanagawa-centered.
