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Regardless of nationality, the parents of a child born in Japan should submit a notification of birth (shusshō todoke) to their municipal government office within 14 days of the birth. Please bring the birth certificate of the child, which is issued by the clinic or hospital, with you when you go. Parents who are foreign nationals should also report the birth to the embassy or consulate in Japan of their country of origin. If both parents are foreign nationals, their child cannot become a Japanese citizen, and the parents must apply to the Immigration Services Agency for a status of residence for their newborn within 30 days of the birth.
In Japan, a mother typically spends about one week in hospital and the cost is about \500,000. When the cost of regular prenatal checkups is included, the cost is even higher. As pregnancy and childbirth are not illnesses, the costs are not covered by health insurance. However, for mothers who are enrolled in public health insurance, a birth allowance that covers most of the costs (about \400,000) is paid directly to the medical institution by most municipal governments or by the insurers. If you are enrolled in Employees’ Health Insurance, please contact your employer for details. If you are enrolled in National Health Insurance, please contact the national health insurance division in your municipal government office.
Regular health checkups are offered by the municipality of residence for infants and children at 3 to 4
months, 8 to 10 months, 18 months and 3 years. Many regular health check-ups and vaccinations for infants and
children are available free of charge.
If you are enrolled in public health insurance, you will only pay 20% of the medical costs for infants and
preschool children. Some municipalities also offer additional programs to help cover children’s medical costs.
Please contact your municipal government office or Health Center.
The Mother and Child Health Textbook contains information about the maternal and child health and child-raising. Translations of the Japanese are available in 7 languages from the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA) International Medical Information Center.