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.
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Resort locationHospitalClinicDentalPharmacy
Medical facilities nearby
Facility
Straight line
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Hospital 2
Reception hours are in the detailsAccepts emergenciesEmergency care: 24 hours
Required Without a referral letter you pay an extra ¥3,850.
Note
The secondary-emergency hospital for the Hokushin region, which includes Yamanouchi. Nights and holidays the emergency department covers internal medicine, pediatrics and surgery; triage decides order. Cards accepted (JCB, Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, UnionPay). A first visit without a referral letter carries a 3,850 yen special charge. Some departments need an appointment for a first visit, others take walk-ins. Multilingual help via a Pocketalk translation device. Outpatient note on the MHLW page: The radiology outpatient clinic is by appointment only. First-visit registration is Tuesdays and Fridays 8:30–12:30; consultations run on every day the hospital is open. The dermatology outpatient clinic is closed on the afternoons of the 1st and 3rd Fridays. Closed on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturdays.From website
The hospital's emergency page: 「長野赤十字病院は、北信地区の救命救急センターとして365日24時間…」 — the critical-care emergency centre for northern Nagano, open 24 hours, 365 days. After hours and on closed days, use the emergency outpatient entrance (north entrance, by the first car park).From website
General internal medicine near Yudanaka Station; chest X-ray and abdominal ultrasound are listed. Walk-in first visits accepted. No foreign-language support recorded.From website
Not useful for a ski injury: open a few hours a week, in the Sugakawa district away from the ski areas. Neurosurgery listed; mapped to neurology.From website
Gathered ahead of your trip as a planning aid — details change; verify locally on arrival.
Backcountry policy
Shiga Kogen's safety rules forbid entering closed areas or roped-off zones for any reason, and if ski patrol carries out search and rescue after an accident outside the area, the ski area bills the person concerned for the actual cost. No sanctioned off-area route from Ichinose was found.
As of 2026-10-17
Nearest emergency hospital
In an emergency, 119 decides the destination. Yamanouchi Town has no hospital in the register list. The emergency hospital for the area is 長野県厚生農業協同組合連合会 北信総合病院 (Hokushin General Hospital) in Nakano City, a secondary-emergency hospital with orthopedics, CT and MRI. Its website states that emergency patients are accepted at any time; nights, holidays and closed days are covered by its emergency outpatient department, which sees patients in triage order. 長野赤十字病院 (Nagano Red Cross Hospital) in Nagano City is listed in the register as a tertiary emergency centre (救命救急センター) and is the nearest one to the resort in the program's list, about 31 km in a straight line.
As of 2026-10-15
Pharmacy
Two insurance-designated dispensing pharmacies in Yamanouchi, both down the mountain: Kotobukiya Pharmacy near Yudanaka Station (weekdays 08:30-18:00, Sat 08:30-14:00) and Yomase Kotobukiya Pharmacy (weekdays 09:00-18:00, Sat 09:00-14:00). Both close on Sundays, national holidays and 30 Dec-3 Jan, and both take major credit cards. There is no pharmacy recorded on the mountain.
As of 2026-10-06
Major trauma center
Nagano Prefecture's doctor helicopter (信州ドクターヘリ) service has two bases: Saku General Hospital Saku Medical Center and Shinshu University Hospital (Matsumoto). The MHLW coverage list and the prefecture's page both give the whole prefecture as its area; the prefecture's page gives operating hours of 8:30 to 17:00 (or sunset). Fire service agencies judge the patient's severity and request dispatch, so a skier or the resort cannot request it directly. No source names a destination hospital for a patient airlifted from Ichinose.
As of 2026-10-15
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
Inside the ski area, patrol response is part of normal operation. Outside it, the rule is explicit: if an accident happens beyond the area boundary and ski patrol carries out search and rescue, the ski area bills the person concerned for the actual cost. The ski area also states that it accepts no responsibility for accidents within the resort, so carry insurance that covers rescue and treatment.
As of 2026-10-17
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.