Tell ski patrol or resort staff firstOn the mountain, tell any ski patrol or resort staff first — they coordinate rescue and call emergency services for you.
Many Japanese fire departments handle 119 calls in major foreign languages via three-way simultaneous interpretation through a telephone interpretation center, 24 hours a day, year-round. Reviewed 2026-07-21
Medical facilities nearby
This list shows the nearest 15 hospitals, 10 clinics, 10 pharmacies and 5 dentists, plus every emergency hospital. More are in the area.
Facts marked "From website" come from the facility's own website or the town's page. The national medical register does not list them, so check with the facility before you go.
Not required Without a referral letter you pay an extra ¥0.
Note
PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL ONLY, in Shinko near Asari. It does not treat injuries: do not go here with a ski injury, even though it is a hospital close to the resort road. First visits by appointment. Registry lists English at conversational level.
Outpatient note on the MHLW page: Surgery outpatient clinic: Thursdays, first morning and afternoon of the month (closed on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th). Orthopaedics: Thursday mornings on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th of the month (closed on the 1st); closed in the afternoon. Room charges (special rooms): Type A special room 1,100 yen per day (rooms 216, 317, 417); Type B special room 2,200 yen per day (rooms 212, 215, 312, 316, 412, 416).
Required Without a referral letter you pay an extra ¥7,700.
Note
Designated emergency hospital on the Otaru rota (Hokkaido Medical Plan table 10, 2026-04-01); its emergency intake hours are not published. Orthopaedics is by appointment and warns that urgent patients such as fractures can delay appointments. ¥7,700 surcharge for a first visit without a referral letter. Psychiatry, rehabilitation and radiology do not run outpatient clinics. Cards (JCB, VISA, Mastercard, Amex, Diners) and QUICPay accepted. Registry lists English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Korean, French, German, Russian, Italian and Spanish, plus a voice-translation device. Prior-year volumes: CT 5,982, MRI 3,299.From website
Required Without a referral letter you pay an extra ¥1,100.
Note
Designated emergency hospital on the Otaru rota (Hokkaido Medical Plan table 10, 2026-04-01); its emergency intake hours are not published. First visits need no appointment except breast surgery; ¥1,100 surcharge for a first visit without a referral letter. Next door to the Otaru Night Emergency Center. Cards (JCB, VISA, Mastercard, UnionPay, Amex, Diners) accepted. English supported; multilingual voice-translation device available. Prior-year volumes: CT 2,990, MRI 1,740. Outpatient note on the MHLW page: Cardiology on Monday afternoons is a pacemaker clinic. Paediatrics on Tuesday afternoons is infant check-ups (for ages 4 months, 1 year and 2 years) and vaccinations only. Wednesday afternoons are vaccinations only. Thursday afternoons are infant check-ups (1 month) and vaccinations only. No outpatient care is offered by radiology, anaesthesiology or pathology.
Not required Without a referral letter you pay an extra ¥0.
Note
Designated emergency hospital on the Otaru rota (Hokkaido Medical Plan table 10, 2026-04-01); its emergency intake hours are not published. First visits need no appointment in most departments, including orthopaedics; no referral surcharge listed. Near JR Otaru Station. Cards (JCB, VISA, Mastercard, Amex, Diners) accepted. English supported, with a voice-translation device. Prior-year volumes: CT 3,600, MRI 971. Outpatient note on the MHLW page: Gastroenterology afternoon outpatient care: emergency and severely ill patients only. Surgery, breast and anal outpatient clinic: afternoon outpatient care on Fridays only (Monday to Thursday afternoons accept emergency and severely ill patients only). Women's clinic: Tuesday afternoons.
Not required Without a referral letter you pay an extra ¥0.
Note
Designated emergency hospital on the Otaru rota (Hokkaido Medical Plan table 10, 2026-04-01); its emergency intake hours are not published. In Zenibako, at the Sapporo end of Otaru. Also lists neurosurgery. First visits need no appointment in any department; no referral surcharge. Cards (JCB, VISA, Mastercard, Amex, Diners) accepted. Registry: no foreign-language support and no voice-translation device. Prior-year volumes: CT 1,451, MRI 729.From website
Outpatient note on the MHLW page: Teine Keijinkai Hospital is a referral-based outpatient hospital that mainly sees patients with a referral letter. If you wish to be seen and do not have a referral letter, the Patient Support Center will ask about your situation.
Outpatient note on the MHLW page: Neurosurgery and otolaryngology are currently closed. Paediatrics in the afternoon is vaccinations and a chronic disease clinic. Obstetrics and gynaecology sees patients on Wednesday mornings every other week. In addition to general internal medicine, there is a general medicine department. Urology sees patients on Wednesday afternoons every week.
Outpatient note on the MHLW page: Departments other than paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology (the obstetrics part) generally require a referral. Closed days on the MHLW page: Year-end and New Year (Dec 29 to Jan 3).
Outpatient note on the MHLW page: Outpatient reception time slot 1 is for first visits, slot 2 for return visits with an appointment, and slot 3 for return visits without an appointment. Each department sets its own consultation days and hours, so please check the details on the Sapporo Medical University Hospital website (http://web.sapmed.ac.jp/hospital/).
Outpatient note on the MHLW page: Outpatient reception time slot 1 is for first visits and slot 2 for return visits. Each department sets consultation days by organ or body part, so please check the details on the Hokkaido University Hospital website (https://www.huhp.hokudai.ac.jp).
Outpatient note on the MHLW page: For smoking cessation guidance, please book by telephone; a preliminary interview and tests are required. The clinic is an insurance-covered smoking cessation clinic using Champix (oral medicine). As of March 2024 Champix is not in stock and the service is paused; it will resume if the drug becomes available. Please call to ask. First-time patients should register at least 30 minutes before registration closes. Requests for home visits or house calls are discussed by telephone beforehand. The clinic works with acute-care hospitals, visiting nurses and care managers so that patients can spend their final days at home as they wish. Consultations from care managers are accepted at any time.
Gathered ahead of your trip as a planning aid — details change; verify locally on arrival.
Rescue protocol
Inside the managed area, an accident is reported to patrol or other staff, who respond (terms of use Art. 11). Outside it the rules change: anyone who enters a closed or unmanaged area and is injured or lost there gets no search or rescue from the resort at their own request, and the resort accepts no responsibility (Art. 14). The resort goes into those areas only when the police or fire service ask it to, and then bills the person rescued. The resort's lift safety report states that all staff take rescue training before each season opens.
As of 2026-09-15
AED locations
The resort's facilities page lists an AED at Galzick House (the rental hall and training building). No other AED location is listed; others may exist but are not published.
As of 2026-09-15
Backcountry policy
No backcountry access. The terms of use prohibit entering or skiing outside the managed area or in no-skiing zones, entering closed runs, and hiking up the runs or resort grounds for climbing (Art. 4). Inside the resort there is a designated Tree Run Zone: helmets are mandatory there, the resort accepts no responsibility for any accident inside it, and it may close for weather. Anyone hurt or lost in a closed area gets no search from the resort on request, and is billed if the police or fire service ask the resort to rescue them (Art. 14).
As of 2026-09-15
Nearest emergency hospital
There is no single ER. Serious cases go by ambulance (call 119) to whichever of Otaru's six designated emergency hospitals is on duty: Otaru General Hospital, Otaru Kyokai Hospital, Saiseikai Otaru Hospital, Otaru Ekisaikai Hospital, Otaru Chuo Hospital and Sasson Hospital (Hokkaido Medical Plan table 10, as of 1 April 2026). Otaru General Hospital describes itself as the secondary emergency hospital for the Shiribeshi region and takes emergency patients at night and on holidays as well as in clinic hours. Otaru Chuo Hospital's 24-hour emergency care is for neurosurgery only. For sudden illness at night, the Otaru Night Emergency Center (internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics) opens at 18:00 on weekdays, Sundays and holidays, and at 14:00 on Saturdays.
As of 2026-09-15
Pediatric care
Children who fall ill at night can be seen at the Otaru Night Emergency Center, which covers internal medicine (including paediatrics) and surgery. In weekday clinic hours, Otaru General Hospital, Otaru Kyokai Hospital and Saiseikai Otaru Hospital all list paediatrics, and Otaru General Hospital's paediatrics takes first visits without an appointment. Hospital outpatient clinics close at weekends and on holidays; daytime holiday cover comes from the on-duty doctor rota.
As of 2026-09-15
Show this to staff
Each line is in Japanese a receptionist can read, with its meaning underneath.
スキー中にけがをしました。
I was injured while skiing.
ここがとても痛いです。
It hurts a lot here.
診察を受けたいです。
I would like to see a doctor.
海外旅行保険に入っています。
I have travel insurance.
クレジットカードで払えますか？
Can I pay by credit card?
英語を話せる人はいますか？
Is there anyone who speaks English?
保険請求用の診断書と領収書をください。
Please give me a medical certificate and a receipt for my insurance.
Cost, insurance and medicines
Rescue costs
The terms of use set charges only for rescues from closed areas; they say nothing about charging for help inside the open runs. When the resort rescues someone from a closed area at the request of the police or fire service, its terms (in force from 1 December 2024) bill the person rescued a base charge of ¥50,000 per hour, plus ¥5,000 per staff member per hour, ¥50,000 per snowcat per hour, ¥10,000 per snowmobile per hour and ¥2,500 per lift ride per person. Staff charges rise 25% between 16:00 and 22:00 and 50% between 22:00 and 10:00, and any damage to resort property is billed on top. A rescue lasting a few hours with several staff and a snowcat therefore costs hundreds of thousands of yen.
As of 2026-09-15
Japan's National Health Insurance does not cover tourists — hospitals bill the full cost and generally expect payment upfront by cash or card. Ordinary travel insurance often excludes off-piste and backcountry rescue; dedicated mountain-rescue insurance exists, so check your policy before you ride.
Reviewed 2026-07-21
Some common medicines are restricted in Japan — e.g. codeine-containing products, pseudoephedrine above set limits, and ADHD stimulants — and may require advance permission to bring in. Check the MHLW guidance before you travel.
Reviewed 2026-07-21
Nothing here is medical advice. We compile this information from Japan's national medical registers and the official websites of facilities and resorts, as a planning aid. Hours, phone numbers and services change, and we cannot guarantee that any of it is current or correct. Decisions you make with it are your own responsibility: check with the facility before you go, and in an emergency tell ski patrol or call 119.