Medical care in Tokyo

December 12, 2018 1:17 PM

I need an English speaking medical provider who can diagnose my possible strep throat in Tokyo. Today. (I am in akihabara until noon and shinjuku after that until Saturday morning). I can figure out the trains and I have travel insurance. Who should I see?

Had a video chat with nurse practitioner back home and the doctor reviewed that and the throat photo I sent. She’s not comfortable with my flying while possibly contagious and she thinks it’s likely strep which requires 24 hours of antibiotic use to be safe.

I have a history of throat infections that are difficult to treat, AND a hospitalization for c diff. So I’m not interested in ‘just’ taking some antibiotics, though if that turns out to be my only option, my doctor says she’s prepared to ‘deal with that’ when I get home. Priority number one is and should be keeping the folks on my flight safe.

posted by bilabial to Health & Fitness (4 answers total)

I'm Japanese (meaning I didn't use English) and it's been a long time since I went there last, but the Tokyo Midtown Clinic in Roppongi is good, the people there are super nice, you don't need an appointment to see a doctor, and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't bat an eye if you only spoke English. You can get to Roppongi by Hibiya Line from Akihabara and it's also a single line (Oedo) away from Shinjuku.
posted by misozaki at 2:50 PM on December 12, 2018

Response by poster: I have ended up at Nihon University Hospital near the Ochanomizu station on the JR Line, one station from akihabara station. Am waiting to see an ENT. I don’t know how I’ll know when it is my turn but everyone was very helpful getting the paperwork done and they were all very apologetic about the 5,400¥ this will cost.

I’m marking this resolved. Thank you all for your suggestions. I’m sure this might help someone in the future. Advice to future me, find all this where to see a doctor stuff before I leave home.
posted by bilabial at 4:50 PM on December 12, 2018 [2 favorites]

Glad you found something! For future reference, there's an app on the US iOS store (not sure about Android) called Japan Hospital Guide. It shows you the different clinics in your current area and what languages services they offer, including specialties (ear/nose, etc).

It's not very robust and I don't think you can search by specialty, in which case I personally default to Google*, but it's good for a quick look at what's available locally via map.


*A lot of these results come from the foreigners-in-Japan subreddits, which can be good English-speaking resources as well if you have more time to comb through searches.
posted by lesser weasel at 5:18 PM on December 12, 2018

Response by poster: Ah. The 5400 was just the getting in the door price. The actual visit was 26,400¥, for future people who wonder what you’ll have to pay. I’ll be filing with my travel insurance.
posted by bilabial at 12:14 AM on December 13, 2018