Guides to long-term care in Yokohama City

15 guides

These pages explain the procedures that Yokohama City publishes only in Japanese, spread across several sites. Each one links to the official source and shows when it was last verified.

Applying for a care-level certification in Yokohama To use long-term care insurance in Yokohama you first need a care-level certification. Applications go to the Elderly and Disability Support Section of your ward office. Here are the three ways to apply, the documents, and all 18 ward contacts. Read

Surrendering a driving licence, and getting about after Voluntary surrender is handled by the police, not the ward office. In Yokohama, surrendering at 75 or over makes the Keiro Pass free for three years, but the timing decides whether it qualifies. Where to go, what to bring, and what to do about the car. Read

When managing money and contracts becomes difficult Two schemes cover this. Rights protection means the ward Anshin Centre visiting once or twice a month, from 1,250 yen a visit, but only while the person can still sign a contract. After that comes adult guardianship. Read

Caring without leaving your job Family care leave runs to 93 days per relative and can be split into three periods, paid at 67% of wages by employment insurance. Family care days are five a year and can be taken by the hour. Since April 2025 employers must explain this individually. The 93 days are for building an arrangement, not for doing the caring yourself. Read

Where the last days are spent The belief that dying at home means a police investigation is a misunderstanding: if the attending doctor can attribute the death to the illness they were treating, they issue the certificate. What a home arrangement needs, why a decision can be changed, and why to talk about it early. Read

How to apply for a special nursing home in Yokohama In Yokohama you do not apply at the ward office or at each home. All applications go by post to a single city-run reception centre, and admission is decided by assessed need rather than by the order of application. Read

Short stays, so the family can rest Short stays are not only for the person being cared for. The ministry states they exist to reduce the burden on the family, and lists a carer’s illness, family occasions and business trips as reasons to use them. Up to 30 consecutive days, counted inside the monthly ceiling. Read

How the premiums work, and what arrears cost you Everyone pays from the age of 40. At 65 it stops coming out with the health premium and becomes a separate bill from the city, which is where arrears begin. One year and you pay up front and claim back; eighteen months and refunds stop; two years and your own share rises to 30 or 40 percent, with no way to settle the debt. Read

What has to be done afterwards It looks like a lot, but the order is fixed and only the first part is urgent. The death certificate, registration within seven days, the cremation permit, one visit to the ward office, and returning the insurance card within fourteen days. Inheritance is left to the professionals. Read

Types of residential care, and how to choose Special nursing homes, geriatric health facilities, group homes and fee-based homes. Four names that are hard to tell apart, set side by side by who they take, what they are for, how long a stay lasts and where to apply — with what the monthly bill is actually made of. Read

What a Community Care Plaza does In Yokohama, community support centres are mostly housed in facilities called Community Care Plazas. There are 138 across the city, each covering specific towns, and using one costs nothing. Read

Not carrying it alone The most common way care goes wrong is that one person carries it alone and gives out first. Anonymous phone lines, dementia cafes and carers’ gatherings, and short stays for resting. All free, or covered by the insurance. Read

The monthly ceiling on home-care services Home-based care under the insurance has a monthly ceiling set by care level. The ceiling is defined in service units, not yen, and what a unit is worth depends on the city. Yokohama City is in grade 2, so the real ceiling is higher than the 10-yen-a-unit figure most sites quote. Read

Home modification under long-term care insurance in Yokohama Handrails and removing steps are covered by long-term care insurance up to 200,000 yen. You must apply before the work starts — afterwards nothing is paid. Read

Renting and buying assistive equipment Wheelchairs, care beds, handrails, walking frames. The insurance rents rather than sells, except for bathing and toilet aids, which you buy and claim back. Which route applies is set by the item — you get a choice on four of them. Some items are not covered at the lighter care levels. Read

Not sure where to start?

Ask the Community Comprehensive Support Centre for your address. Consultation is free, and staff can file a care-level application on your behalf.

Find your support centre

Listings of care providers are in Japanese only, because the source data exists only in Japanese.