Calling Emergency Services in Japan

• 

  mskeggs on 24/09/2025 - 13:18

  +2

  I have not called emergency services from Japan, but the international standard for GSM networks is for calls to 112 to be accepted regardless of SIM or operator (which is one reason it was a big deal Optus just let them ring out last week).

  FWIW, I find it hard to imagine a location in Japan you would feel safe taking a little one to that wouldn’t have other people you could turn to for help not far away - but maybe you are travelling to an unexpected place outside my imaginings!

• 

  jv on 24/09/2025 - 14:02

  -3

  Skype didn't work for calling emergency services in Japan.

  Skype doesn't work for any services anywhere…
  It was retired by Microsoft as of May 5, 2025

  Get a data sim and use voice of wifi…

  • 

    Jayblesz on 24/09/2025 - 16:54

    before it was closed

    Did you even read the OP?

    Googling how to call emergency services gives mixed responses regarding VOIP

    Apparently not

    • 

      jv on 24/09/2025 - 17:05

      Just dial 112

      • 

        Muppet Detector on 28/09/2025 - 18:12

        Dial it back jv.

• 

  scrimshaw on 24/09/2025 - 14:06

  +1

  Most phones will dial to an emergency number even without a SIM, IIRC.

  112 is an international standard emergency number, if you dial this, the phone will figure out which number it needs to call (based on proximity), so you don't need to remember what the emergency phone number is for a different country. This from Wikipedia: edit: apparently not guaranteed to work in Japan

  112 is a part of the GSM standard and all GSM-compatible telephone handsets are able to dial 112 even when locked or, in some countries, with no SIM card present. It is also the common emergency number in nearly all member states of the European Union as well as several other countries of Europe and the world. 112 is often available alongside other numbers historically used in the given country to access emergency services. In some countries, calls to 112 are not connected directly but forwarded by the GSM network to local emergency numbers (e.g., 911 in North America, 999 in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, and 000 in Australia).

  iPhone users can also use emergency SOS satellite
  https://support.apple.com/en-au/101573

  I'd also bring the aussie SIM card (with voice & SMS) along as a precaution (in case you need to receive an OTP from your bank, or need to place urgent phone calls to Australia to freeze or unlock a card for eg.), if you're afraid that you might lose your physical SIM then I suggest converting it to an ESIM. Or get a phone that has dual SIM functionality

  • 

    jv on 24/09/2025 - 14:19

    iPhone users can also use emergency SOS satellite

    iPhone models 14 and later…

• 

  singlemalt72 on 24/09/2025 - 14:21

  112 is an international standard emergency number, if you dial this, the phone will figure out which number it needs to call

  No, this is incorrect - many countries have adopted this, but not all, Japan has not. Some carriers in Japan may redirect the call, but there is NO guarantee.

  Numbers in Japan are 119 (Fire, Ambulance ) - 110 (Police) - there is then the language barrier (though most Japanese speak reasonable English in the cities), you could use a live translation feature if need be, however, chances are, in a very densely populated country someone nearby will be able to call for you.

  • 

    singlemalt72 on 24/09/2025 - 14:24

    Also a cellular phone must register on a network with a valid voice compatible sim to enable emergency calling, unlike countries where any phone will connect for emergency calls.

  • 

    elusive on 24/09/2025 - 17:36

    +1

    No, this is incorrect - many countries have adopted this, but not all, Japan has not. Some carriers in Japan may redirect the call, but there is NO guarantee.

    Are you sure that's the case for mobile (GSM) calls? Emergency calls over VoLTE don't actually call a number, as such, they're translated to a urn:service:sos call on the phone end before it even hits the carrier network. It's expected that 110/119 will also be mapped (via SIM entries) to the more specific services (urn:service:sos.police, urn:service:sos.fire, urn:service:sos.ambulance) if you have a Japanese SIM installed.

    I suppose it could be the case that some carriers don't handle the generic urn:service:sos and only work with more specific ones? Especially if there isn't any national standard call centre for 'generic' emergencies to go to. I've seen one reference (in Facebook comments, ugh) that 112 took them to a pre-recorded message:

    if you call 112 in Japan, you would probably lose a precious minute before you get to the operator. After you hear the Japanese portion, which ask to enter a prompt for police, fire or coast guard, then you hear the same message in English. If you call an appropriate number in the first place, you get to the operator right away.

    So I suppose it is possible that this extra prompt is a carrier-specific service and not provided by some other carriers, though I'd be surprised if not handling the generic emergency call isn't a violation of a 3GPP standard somewhere.

    ---

    But yes, some countries can require a valid SIM before being able to initiate such a call. And sometimes such a call won't work correctly anyway (especially when roaming - VoLTE roaming is still a bit patchy in some ways). So having a local voice-capable SIM is not a bad idea, but sadly most of the travel SIM options are data-only.

    ---

    (Fun fact, 3GPP TS 22.101 section 10 defines emergency number handling and specifies that 000, 08, 110, 999, 118 and 119 should all be considered emergency numbers when a SIM is not present, while 112 and 911 should be considered emergency numbers regardless of SIM presence. Of course it then says it's up to national authorities whether SIM-less calls are accepted at all.)

• 

  Switchblade88 on 24/09/2025 - 18:37

  +1

  Try 0118 999 881 999 119 725… 3

  • 

    Daabido on 24/09/2025 - 20:49

    I prefer to email.

• 

  holdenmg on 25/09/2025 - 07:59

  +1

  Q. Are you with Optus?

  A. 'yes'

  Q. Why?

  • 

    Jayblesz on 26/09/2025 - 02:24

    Telstra