No more "tourist-patient-scroungers": Japan toward mandatory health insurance for visitors

It has been talked about for some time, but now - perhaps - it is becoming a reality. Japan plans to Compel all incoming tourists to enter into aprivate health insurance.

The initiative's main goal is to counter the increasingly recurring problem of the foreign visitors who receive medical treatment and leave the country without paying for it. 

Mandatory health insurance to enter Japan

In recent years in Japan-a destination also chosen by many Italians-tourism has grown exponentially. As the number of tourists has increased, so have the number of patients admitted and medicated in the country's various hospitals. Facilities are suffering from this overload not only organizationally but especially economically, as the debts left behind by tourists are getting higher and higher.

TFC recommends different insurances depending on the types of trips and vacations that you have planned.

To cope with this problem, hospitals will report the name and details of "freeloaders" to the immigration office.

So, indicatively starting in 2026, but perhaps even further in time, at the moment there is no certainty yet, Tourists without proof of insurance could be denied entry. Or to visitors with unpaid medical bills. could be prevented from re-entering the country. However, it should be remembered that traveling to travel abroad one should always take out a travel policy regardless of whether there is an obligation in the destination country or not. A cheap and efficient solution is proposed by Heymondo with its travel policies on which it is possible to have the discount of 10% For readers of The Flight Club by clicking here and getting an online quote in just a few clicks.

The health ministry says the goal is to ensure that all visitors can cover unexpected medical expenses, similar to existing rules in places such as the Schengen area, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Morocco and Jordan.

As it is also reported Skift, a leading American tourism publication, Japan recorded a record 36.8 million visitors in 2024, and the government hopes to receive 60 million tourists a year by 2030. But this influx has brought new challenges, especially for urban hospitals that are seeing higher volumes of emergency care requests from nonresidents. By September 2024 alone, more than 11 thousand foreign visitors received medical treatment in about 5,500 hospitals nationwide.

Japan's tourist tax increase

In addition, the Land of the Rising Sun, again to discourage too many travelers, due to high crowds, Has decided to raise tourist taxes. The government approved an ordinance - valid as of as of March 1, 2026 - which provides for a tourist tax of ¥10,000 (about 61.50 euros) per night per guest.

The tax increase will affect all stays, regardless of whether you choose to pay cash o with the points: those who choose to redeem 1 or more premium nights will only have to put their hand in their wallet for the tourist tax.

In conclusion

Japan, one of the most beautiful destinations in the world, and most chosen even by Italians, is gradually becoming more and more exclusive and onerous. On the one hand, this could be a problem, but on the other hand, it could be good news because the regulations that will most likely come into effect in the next few years aim at quality tourism.