Built from public data
Long-term care in Japan: where do you ask?
The first place to ask is the Community Comprehensive Support Centre assigned to your neighbourhood. Which one that is depends on your town — sometimes on your chome. Procedures and subsidies differ by city, so this site is organised area by area.
Areas covered
COVERAGE
Support centres and care providers, on one map
Pink marks a Community Comprehensive Support Centre; orange marks a care provider. Tap a marker to open its page.
Providers come from the national open data; the districts each centre covers come from what each city publishes. Detail pages are in Japanese.
AREA
Choose your city
Desks, procedures and subsidies all differ by city, and the same town name occurs in more than one city. Picking your city first avoids sending you to the wrong desk.
FLOW
What happens when care is needed
From asking for the first time to services starting. The steps are the same across Japan; only the desk you apply at differs by city. The result takes up to 30 days, so it is fine to ask while you are still unsure.
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Ask someone first
The first place to ask is the Community Comprehensive Support Centre. Which one serves you is decided by your town — sometimes by your chome. You do not need to know what you want yet.
Free of charge No appointment needed
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Apply for a care-level certification
Apply at the long-term care desk at your ward office. You can apply at the counter, by post, or online. If neither the person nor the family can go, a Community Comprehensive Support Centre or a care management office can apply on their behalf.
Applying is free Bring the insurance card
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The assessment
Two things happen at the same time here.
Assessment visit
A city assessor visits the home and asks about daily life and physical and mental condition.
Doctor's written opinion
The family doctor writes it. The city requests it directly, so you do not have to arrange it.
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Review and decision
A review board of medical, health and welfare professionals decides, based on the assessment and the doctor’s opinion. Nothing is required from you during this time.
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The result arrives
It is sent by post, normally within 30 days of the application.
Support Level 1–2 Care Level 1–5 Not eligible
If you disagree with the result, you can ask the city to review it or apply for a change of level.
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A care plan is written
It sets out which services to use and how much. For Support Levels the Community Comprehensive Support Centre writes it; for Care Levels a care manager does.
No charge for writing the plan
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Services begin
Home helpers, day services, equipment rental and so on. You pay 10–30% of the cost, depending on income.
DEMENTIA
If you think it might be dementia
Where to ask, how to get seen, and what to do after a diagnosis. You can ask before there is any diagnosis. People often refuse to see a doctor, so that situation is covered too.
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If you start to wonder
It is usually the family, not the person, who notices first. Ordinary ageing and dementia differ like this.
Ordinary ageing
Part of an experience is forgotten. The person knows they forgot.
Dementia
The whole experience drops out. The person often does not notice that anything is missing.
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Ask your family doctor, or a support centre
If something seems different, start with the family doctor. If there is no family doctor, the Community Comprehensive Support Centre is the place to ask. Either order is fine.
Asking is free No diagnosis needed to ask
When the person refuses to see a doctor
This happens often, so it is not a dead end. Most cities have a team of professionals who visit the home and connect the person to care. Tell the Community Comprehensive Support Centre that the person does not want to go — that is exactly what they are there for.
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See a specialist
Usually on referral from the family doctor: a memory clinic, neurology or psychiatry department.
Each city designates a dementia medical centre for specialist consultations, and publishes a list of clinics that diagnose and treat dementia.
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Get a diagnosis
An interview, cognitive tests and imaging.
Dementia has several underlying causes, and treatment differs by cause. Identifying the cause is what the rest of the plan rests on.
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Apply for a care-level certification
Long-term care insurance requires a certification. People aged 40–64 can apply too if the cause is early-onset dementia (it counts as a specified disease).
The result normally takes up to 30 days, so applying as soon as the diagnosis is made shortens the wait.
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Do not carry it alone
Dementia cafes, family groups and phone lines exist for the people doing the caring. Talking to someone in the same situation often makes the road ahead clearer.
DRIVING
A diagnosis does not cancel a licence
Giving up driving often comes up at the same time as a diagnosis, so it is worth saying plainly: a dementia diagnosis does not by itself cancel a driving licence, and a family cannot surrender one on someone else’s behalf. Surrendering is an application the driver makes themselves.
What it is called
Formally, an application to cancel a driving licence. It is done at a driving licence centre or at any police station in the prefecture except Yokohama Water Police. No appointment is needed, and the licence itself must be brought.
Ask for the driving history certificate
Issued on request to people who surrender, it certifies five years of driving history and is valid identification at banks. Handing in a licence removes a common form of ID, so this matters. It is ready about a month later.
Sort out the travelling first
Shopping, appointments, seeing people. When the licence goes before the alternative is in place, people stop going out. Put the alternative in place first, then have the conversation.
ABOUT
Why area by area?
Long-term care insurance is a national system, but the paperwork is run locally and differs sharply between cities.
This site explains public information in plain English. It is not an official translation. Always confirm with the city before acting. Every page shows its source and the date it was last verified.