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Guide

How to apply for a special nursing home (tokuyo) in Kawasaki

In Kawasaki City you do not apply to the ward office or to each home. All applications go to one association, you may name up to five homes, and admission is decided by assessed need rather than by the order of application.

How the application works

How one application reaches several homes

  1. One application form

    Sent to the Kawasaki Association of Welfare Facilities for the Elderly, by post or in person. Not to the ward office, and not to the homes themselves.

  2. Name up to 5 homes on it

    You do not file separately with each one. The single form covers all of them.

  3. Each home scores you separately

    Scoring follows the city’s published admission guideline — care level, dementia, the carer’s situation, how long you have lived there.

  4. Each home has its own queue

    Contact comes from the home itself, to the people highest on its list.

    Filing early does not move you up

    The order is by assessed need, not by date. Applying sooner does not get you in sooner — but it does mean you are already on the list when your situation changes.

    If your circumstances or your choice of homes changes, file a change notice — that is what updates your score.

You do not apply at the ward office

Kawasaki City runs a single intake for special nursing homes (特別養護老人ホーム, often shortened to tokuyo). Applications go to the Kawasaki City Elderly Welfare Facilities Association in Takatsu Ward, not to the ward office and not to individual homes. Post is accepted.

One submission covers every home you name. You do not need to visit each one with paperwork.

The steps

  1. Look at the homes. There are about 60 in the city, and visiting before applying is encouraged
  2. Submit the documents to the association
  3. The home contacts you once your application is prioritised, for an interview and assessment
  4. The home's admission committee decides
  5. Contract and move-in

Up to five homes

You may name up to five homes. The city asks applicants to list only homes they genuinely want to enter.

Documents depend on the care level

Care levelDocumentsWhat they are
Level 3–54Application form, living-situation survey, consent form, copy of the insurance card
Level 1–26The four above, plus a care manager's written opinion and a checklist

Admission is not first come, first served

Priority is set by a points system under the city's admission guidelines, weighing the care level, dementia symptoms, the situation of the family carer, and length of residence in the city. Applying earlier does not move you up the list.

Where to get advice first

A Community Comprehensive Support Centre will discuss options with you at no charge.

Find your support centre Official page (Japanese)

Source: Kawasaki City · Last verified 2026-09-11. Rules change. Check the source page before you act on this. This is a plain-English summary of public information, not an official translation.

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