Emergency
Serious or life-threatening symptoms
Call 119 for an ambulance. If you cannot communicate in Japanese, stay on the line while the operator connects language assistance.
Medical help in Sendai
Need medical care? Start with the route, not the hospital name.
Use this guide to decide whether you need an ambulance, after-hours care, a normal clinic, a dentist, a hospital pathway, or help finding a provider that can communicate in English.
Choose the next step
Which situation are you in?
Unsure
You are not sure whether it is an emergency
For adults, Miyagi's #7119 / 022-706-7119 service gives emergency advice 24/7. For children under about 15, #8000 / 022-212-9390 is available daily from 19:00 to 08:00. SenTIA's English guide documents both phone services as Japanese-only.
Normal hours
You need a clinic or dentist
Use SEF's clinic and dentist directories to compare specialty, location, appointment route, and the strength of the English-support evidence.
Find a provider
You need help locating foreign-language medical care
SenTIA says the Sendai Multicultural Center can help residents find information about foreign-language doctors or dentists and can help with making an appointment.
Official search
You want to search all registered facilities
Use the Ministry of Health's Medical Information Net for current registered medical institutions, departments, and opening information.
Hospital pathway
You may need specialist hospital care
Large hospitals may require a referral, a specific first-visit process, or a language-assistance route. Check the hospital's official outpatient instructions before going.
Language-support limits
Finding help is not the same as having a medical interpreter.
Sendai Multicultural Center can help you navigate
The Center's medical information page says staff can help find foreign-language medical providers and help with appointment arrangements. Its general interpretation-support hotline covers many languages.
Its general phone interpretation does not cover medical conversations
SenTIA explicitly says its three-way Interpretation Support Hotline cannot interpret medical conversations. A clinic or hospital may need its own language-assistance process or a separate medical-interpreter arrangement.
Official links worth saving
City of Sendai emergency / holiday portalEmergency advice, holiday doctors, after-hours facilities, and Medical Information Net.
SenTIA medical informationForeign-language medical information and appointment-navigation help.
Medical Information NetNational official search for hospitals, clinics, dentists, pharmacies, departments, and hours.
Last checked: September 27, 2026. Core routes below were checked against current City of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, SenTIA, and Ministry of Health medical-information sources. Recheck the linked official source before relying on time-sensitive details.