Palcall Tsumagoi Resort Safety & Emergency
In an emergency
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
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.
| Facility | Straight line | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital 2 | ||
| Reception hours are in the details | 12.5 km | 38 min |
| ||
| Reception hours are in the details Accepts emergencies | 25.6 km | 80 min |
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| Clinic 4 | ||
| Reception hours are in the details | 7.9 km | 24 min |
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| Reception hours are in the details | 8.1 km | 26 min |
| ||
| Reception hours are in the details | 12.8 km | 37 min |
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| Reception hours are in the details | 13.8 km | 36 min |
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| Dental 3 | ||
| Reception hours are in the details | 7.4 km | 21 min |
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| Reception hours are in the details | 7.5 km | 22 min |
| ||
| Reception hours are in the details | 8.1 km | 26 min |
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| Pharmacy 7 | ||
| Reception hours are in the details | 8.1 km | 26 min |
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| Reception hours are in the details | 8.1 km | 26 min |
| ||
| Reception hours are in the details | 12.7 km | 39 min |
| ||
| Reception hours are in the details | 12.9 km | 36 min |
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| Reception hours are in the details | 13.8 km | 36 min |
| ||
| Reception hours are in the details | 15.2 km | 38 min |
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| Reception hours are in the details | 15.7 km | 39 min |
| ||
Pre-trip planning notes
Gathered ahead of your trip as a planning aid — details change; verify locally on arrival.
- Backcountry policy
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The resort recognises two categories it does not manage: closed-off areas within the ski area, and everything beyond the managed boundary of the ski area. Its own operating page tells you that a rescue in either is a police matter, not a resort one, and that resort staff drawn into it are billed for. Read together with the silence about patrol coverage there, that is the policy: outside the boundary you are on your own account, on a 2,100 m summit whose access road (the Panorama Line, both the south and north routes) is closed for the winter.
As of 2026-08-28 - Nearest clinic
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Tsumagoi village has exactly two general clinics, both down in the valley around Manza-Kazawaguchi station rather than at Baragi Kogen: the village's own national health insurance clinic (internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics) and Sakurai Clinic (internal medicine, gastroenterology, surgery, paediatrics, rehabilitation). Neither one lists orthopaedics -- the department a ski fracture actually needs -- and neither publishes an X-ray or CT capability. The nearest orthopaedic department is at the regional hospital in Naganohara, one valley west. Both clinics take first-visit patients without an appointment, and both close on Sundays and national holidays; per-facility timetables are recorded below and one of them is disputed between sources.
As of 2026-08-28 - Nearest emergency hospital
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Tsumagoi village has no hospital at all. Serious injuries go to Nishiagatsuma Welfare Hospital in Naganohara, which Tsumagoi village itself co-founded with three neighbouring towns and which is the area's secondary-emergency hospital: it takes emergency patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, runs an orthopaedic department, and has a helipad on site for onward transfer. Its outpatient clinic is a morning-only affair -- that is not the same door as the emergency one, so do not read the outpatient timetable as emergency availability. It asks you to phone before coming outside normal hours, and it charges a fixed after-hours fee that is waived if you arrive by ambulance or with a referral letter. On Sundays and public holidays the Agatsuma district medical association separately publishes a rota of on-duty doctors and an on-duty night-and-holiday hospital, which is sometimes Haramachi Red Cross Hospital in Higashiagatsuma instead.
As of 2026-08-28 - Pharmacy
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Two insurance-designated dispensing pharmacies are registered in Tsumagoi village, both in the valley near Manza-Kazawaguchi station. Unismile Pharmacy Hohoemi branch publishes a full timetable -- weekdays into the early evening, Saturday mornings only, closed Sundays and holidays -- and states that it also handles dispensing outside opening hours, including nights and holidays, by diverting its line. Tsumagoi Pharmacy is registered and reachable but publishes no opening hours anywhere we could find, which is recorded as outstanding rather than guessed. Neither is a drugstore chain: bring what you normally take, because a prescription here needs a Japanese doctor's visit first.
As of 2026-08-28 - Pediatric care
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Paediatrics is the one department the valley is reasonably covered for. Both Tsumagoi clinics list it, and both are in the district's holiday and all-night care scheme with paediatrics among the covered specialties. The regional hospital in Naganohara also runs a paediatric department, with first-visit paediatric web reception on Fridays, alongside its round-the-clock emergency intake. For the hours in between, that hospital signposts Japan's national after-hours child health advice line (#8000), open from 18:00 to 08:00 the next morning Monday to Saturday and all day on Sundays, public holidays and the New Year period. Note that children under 6 must be accompanied by a guardian on the gondola and lifts.
As of 2026-08-28 - Major trauma center
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Gunma runs one doctor-helicopter and it is based at Maebashi Red Cross Hospital, the prefecture's only advanced critical care centre, flying since February 2009. It cruises at roughly 200 km/h and the operator states it covers the whole prefecture within about 20 minutes; patients go to Maebashi, or to a nearer emergency hospital depending on the case. The catch matters at a ski resort: it flies in daylight only -- from about 08:45 until 17:30, or 30 minutes before sunset in winter, whichever comes first. A late-afternoon injury in February is outside that window, and the road route is what is left. Nishiagatsuma Welfare Hospital keeps a helipad on its own grounds for exactly this handover.
As of 2026-08-28
Show this to staff
Each line is in Japanese a receptionist can read, with its meaning underneath.
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スキー中にけがをしました。
I was injured while skiing.
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ここがとても痛いです。
It hurts a lot here.
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診察を受けたいです。
I would like to see a doctor.
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海外旅行保険に入っています。
I have travel insurance.
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クレジットカードで払えますか？
Can I pay by credit card?
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英語を話せる人はいますか？
Is there anyone who speaks English?
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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
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The resort states the cost rule for out-of-area rescue in plain terms, in both Japanese and English: when its staff take part in a rescue at the request of the authorities (police, fire service), the resort bills the person rescued and their party for it. It gives no figure, and the linked document that would carry the detail is a Google Drive file the public cannot download. Nothing is published about who pays for an in-bounds patrol call-out or a sled evacuation, which in Japan is normally not charged. The ambulance itself is free; the hospital bill is not.
As of 2026-08-28
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 2026-07-21Some 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 2026-07-21Nothing 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.