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118 in Japan: Coast Guard Emergencies

118 is Japan's Coast Guard emergency number, the line for trouble on the water when neither police nor fire dispatch is the right responder.12 It has operated as the nationwide three-digit Coast Guard number since 2000.3

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Japan Coast Guard (海上保安庁) site and your regional Coast Guard headquarters pages.

Overview​

Dial 118 for maritime emergencies: vessels in distress, ocean rescue, suspicious activity at sea, and environmental emergencies on the water.3 The call reaches the Japan Coast Guard, the national agency that watches Japan's coasts and sea lanes around the clock.1

Most residents will never dial 118. That is expected: the number serves coastal residents, recreational boaters, fishers, surfers, and beachgoers.3 Knowing it exists is the whole preparation for everyone else. For trouble on land, 110 covers police matters and 119 covers fire and medical emergencies.24

When to Call 118​

Water changes the responder. Crimes and accidents on land go to 110; incidents at sea or on the coast go to 118.34

Vessel distress and ocean rescue​

Call 118 when a boat loses power, takes on water, runs aground, or goes missing.3 The same number covers people in trouble on the water: swimmers swept out, surfers injured on reefs, beachgoers caught by currents, and accidents on beaches and rivers.3

The line carries real volume. Of the personal-injury and ship accidents the Coast Guard recognized in 2019, 1,919 cases first reached it through the 118 call, and 1,310 of those came from mobile phones.1 A charged mobile phone in a waterproof case is the standard 118 instrument.

Suspicious activity and environmental emergencies at sea​

Call 118 for suspicious vessels, smuggling signs, unauthorized landings, and drifting hazards.3 Oil slicks, floating debris fields, and other environmental emergencies at sea belong on the same number.3 When the activity is criminal and already ashore, 110 takes over; afloat and uncertain, start with 118.34

The 118 Call Flow​

No script is published for 118 in English, so the rule below is guidance, not a quoted exchange. At sea there are no street addresses, which makes position the entire call.

Position first, then the problem​

Lead with where you are: beach or port name, the direction and distance from a visible landmark, GPS coordinates from your phone if signal allows, then the vessel name and description.1 Follow with the headcount, the nature of distress, and what safety gear is aboard. The watch uses that fix to task rescue craft, so precision here decides everything downstream.1

Stay reachable and visible​

Keep the same phone powered and answer callbacks.1 Make the party visible: lights at night, bright clothing or flags by day, sound signals in fog. Do not move from the reported position without telling the dispatcher, since rescue craft steer to the last fix they were given.1

Call at the first sign of losing control, not after options run out

Rescue craft need travel time from port or air station. An early 118 call with a good position beats a late call from a drifting boat with a dying battery.1

Who Responds​

The Coast Guard dispatches patrol vessels and aircraft as the situation requires.1 Published activity includes thousands of vessel sorties and hundreds of aircraft launches per reporting period, alongside coordination with private rescue partners and mutual-information systems such as AMVER with the U.S. Coast Guard.1

The 海上保安庁 (Kaijō Hoanchō, "Japan Coast Guard") also publishes water-safety guides and foreign-language leaflets through its Maritime Information and Communication System, worth reading before the season starts.5 Prevention material in your language beats improvisation in a swell.

File a float plan before every outing

Tell someone ashore your route, return time, and vessel description. A missed return with a known plan triggers search far faster than a 118 call from an unknown position.

Good to know​

Most residents will never dial 118, and that is fine​

Inland residents need awareness, not readiness: the number, the scope, the position-first rule.3 Coastal users need more: a charged phone in a waterproof case, the local beach names learned, and the float-plan habit above.

At sea, 119 still covers fire and medical on land-adjacent calls​

A fire at a marina building or a medical collapse on the pier is a 119 call.4 The 118 line owns the water; where the incident sits on the boundary, describe the location and let the dispatcher sort jurisdiction.

Language support is thinner than the 110 and 119 lines​

No 118 interpreter menu is published in English comparable to the 119 three-way interpretation services.3 Assume Japanese-first handling and plan accordingly: a Japanese-speaking companion aboard, key phrases memorized, and the translation hotlines saved from the language-help guide.

See also​

References​

Footnotes​

  1. Japan Coast Guard. "Saving lives" (official English page). https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/e/mission/saving_lives.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  2. The Japan Times. Disaster information directory (emergency contacts listing). https://disaster.japantimes.co.jp/ ↩ ↩2

  3. Japan Handbook. "Safety in Japan: Emergency Numbers and Expat Support Centers" (2025-11-18). https://japanhandbook.com/safety-in-japan-emergency-numbers-and-expat-support-centers ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  4. U.S. Embassy Tokyo. "Calling for Help" (updated 2024-04-12). https://jp.usembassy.gov/services/calling-for-help ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Japan Coast Guard. Maritime Information and Communication System (MICS) portal (updates page, fetched 2026-09). https://www6.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/index_en.html ↩