Confirming Pregnancy and Registering at the Ward Office
Confirming pregnancy and registering at the ward office is the two-step start of pregnancy care in Japan: a clinic confirms the pregnancy, then the municipal counter records the notification and issues the Maternal and Child Health Handbook with its voucher booklet.12 Completing both steps early unlocks subsidized checkups and a support interview, so treat the ward visit as part of the first trimester, not paperwork for later.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at your municipal ward or city office site. This article is general information, not medical advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed obstetric provider.
Overview
Registration has two halves. A 産婦人科 (sanfujinka, "obstetrics and gynecology clinic") confirms the pregnancy and documents the diagnosis.12 The pregnant resident then files a pregnancy notification (妊娠届出) at the municipal maternal-and-child-health counter and receives the handbook, the checkup vouchers, and an information packet in the same visit.12
The counter is municipal, so the details below are municipal. Counter names, accepted documents, voucher counts, interview programs, and foreign-language handbook editions differ by ward or city; Yokohama and Adachi already differ on each of these points.12
Confirm the pregnancy at a clinic
The sequence starts with a diagnosis of pregnancy at a medical institution. Ward filing follows the diagnosis, not the other way around; both Yokohama and Adachi describe the clinic diagnosis as the trigger for everything after.12
What the clinic gives you for the ward office
What the ward verifies is the diagnosis facts: which clinic confirmed the pregnancy, which week, and which due date. Yokohama asks the filer to bring the diagnosing clinic's exam card (診察券).1 Adachi asks the filer to arrive able to state the due date or the pregnancy week on the notification form.2 The exact paper varies by municipality, so confirm with your local counter what it wants to see.
File the pregnancy notification at the ward office
File the 妊娠届出 (ninshin todoke, "pregnancy notification") at the maternal-and-child-health window promptly after diagnosis; Yokohama instructs filers to come as early as possible.1 The counter name differs by municipality: Yokohama uses the 区福祉保健センター (ku fukushi hoken sentā, "ward Welfare and Health Center", Kodomo Katei Shien-ka), while Adachi uses ward health centers and the Health Prevention Division, with residents' offices accepted only in special circumstances such as difficult access.12
The visit follows a fixed shape:
Documents and ID to bring
Document rules differ by municipality, so use this table as a checklist pattern and verify the row that matches your ward.
| What | Yokohama | Adachi | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinic proof | Diagnosing clinic exam card | Stated due date or pregnancy week on the form | 2026-011; 2026-042 |
| Number verification | My Number card, or notification card or number-bearing resident record | My Number entry optional | 2026-011; 2026-042 |
| Photo ID | Photo ID alongside the above | One list-A photo ID, explicitly including the 在留カード (zairyū kādo, "residence card"), or two list-B non-photo documents | 2026-011; 2026-042 |
The table above is current as of the stated months; confirm current figures with your ward office before visiting. Note what the table implies: the residence card is an explicitly accepted photo ID (Adachi names it), not a separate statutory requirement named by either source.2
Filing by proxy and filing online
A proxy may file when the pregnant person cannot visit. Both cities accept statutory representatives with proof of authority and voluntary proxies with a letter of appointment; Adachi notes the ward may later phone the pregnant person directly for health guidance.12
Online filing through MyNa Portal is also available (as of 2026-01; confirm current figures with your ward office).1 Adachi accepts electronic notification as well (as of 2026-04).2 Online filing does not finish the job remotely everywhere: Yokohama requires in-person handbook pickup within 14 days with no mailing option, while Adachi offers recorded-delivery mailing or pickup restricted to the Health Prevention Division counter only.12
Yokohama counters receive visitors on weekdays from 8:45 to 17:00 plus the second and fourth Saturdays from 9:00 to 12:00 (as of 2026-01).1
What you receive on the day
The ward hands over three things in the same visit: the handbook, a bound booklet of checkup vouchers, and an information packet. Yokohama issues the handbook plus a bound booklet of checkup slips; Adachi issues the handbook (branded as the ward children's handbook) plus voucher slips inside a maternal-and-child-health bag.12
The handbook and the voucher booklet
The 母子健康手帳 (boshi kenkō techō, "Maternal and Child Health Handbook") records the course of the pregnancy, the birth, and the child's growth and development, and both cities instruct the holder to store it carefully.12 The companion article on the handbook system covers its lifelong use; the voucher system has its own companion article on schedules and subsidies.
Adachi's booklet holds 14 妊婦健康診査受診票 (ninpu kenkō shinsa jushinhyō, "prenatal-checkup voucher slips"), 4 ultrasound slips, and 1 cervical-screening slip, usable at contracted Tokyo facilities (as of 2024-09; confirm current figures with your ward office).3 The ultrasound count was expanded from 2 to 4 on 2024-04-01 (as of 2024-09).3 Yokohama's booklet bundles prenatal-checkup and infant-checkup slips without stating counts, which is itself the point: voucher counts are municipal (as of 2026-01).1
The subsidy is partial. Adachi describes the scheme as covering part of the cost of post-confirmation checkups, ultrasound, and cervical screening, and states no visit-level out-of-pocket figure, so budget for a balance at each visit.3 Foreign-language handbook editions exist but differ by municipality: Yokohama offers seven languages (English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Nepali) (as of 2026-01).1
The maternal-event packet
The packet carries the local guidance: event calendars, vaccination schedules, and post-natal service introductions. Adachi's maternal-and-child-health bag goes to persons with ward resident registration and has included sponsor-provided extras such as a handbook cover, a carry bag, and a maternity strap (as of 2026-04).2 Yokohama co-issues a longer set with the handbook, including dental-checkup and cervical-screening slips, a congenital-screening application, postpartum-checkup subsidy slips, infant-checkup slips, and a newborn-hearing-test subsidy slip (as of 2026-01).1 Item lists of this kind change; treat any list as a snapshot and confirm the current set at your own counter.
The interview and ongoing support
A nurse or midwife interview is part of the registration visit, not an optional extra. Yokohama explains the handbook and slip usage and then has a 保健師 (hokenshi, "public health nurse") or 助産師 (josanshi, "midwife") speak with the filer.1 This interview is also the on-ramp to the municipality's ongoing monitoring and support, which makes it especially valuable for first-time mothers.
Adachi runs this as the スマイルママ面接 (sumairu mama mensetsu, "Smile Mama interview"): a roughly 30-minute interview with the pregnant person by ward health staff, held at filing or within about two to three months after filing by phone appointment.4 Receiving Adachi's parenting package requires all three of ward residence at interview time, a filed notification (or transfer-in questionnaire), and the interview itself.4
Adachi's parenting package is 10,000 yen in children's-goods vouchers per fetus, usable for baby goods or taxi rides (as of 2026-04; confirm current figures with your ward office).4 Adachi also introduces its pregnancy-portion childbirth-support benefit of 50,000 yen during pregnancy, started 2025-04-01, at the interview; this is an Adachi program with Adachi dates, not a national figure (as of 2026-04).4 National birth-related payments are covered separately in Maternity and Childbirth Allowances.
Post-birth contact is pre-registered at this stage. Adachi's handbook contains a home-visit reply card (the birth-notification postcard) submitted together with the birth registration so a midwife or nurse visits the home; the birth-registration procedure itself is covered in Birth Registration and the 14-Day Rule.2
Good to know
The counter is municipal, so the details are municipal
Counter names, accepted pickup methods, voucher counts, interview program names, and foreign-language handbook editions all differ between Yokohama's Kodomo Katei Shien-ka model and Adachi's health-center model. The procedure's shape is shared across the country, but every detail must be confirmed with the ward of residence.12
Bring the week and due date, not just yourself
Adachi requires the due date or pregnancy week written on the notification form, and Yokohama asks proxy filers to confirm the week or due date before visiting. The most common avoidable failure in this procedure is arriving without that information and rewriting the form or making a second trip.12
Vouchers subsidize the checkups, not the whole cost
Adachi's scheme covers part of the cost of 14 checkups plus ultrasound and cervical screening slips, and the page states no visit-level out-of-pocket figure. No per-visit yen amount should be planned from these sources; the companion article on prenatal vouchers carries the cost detail.3
Moving mid-pregnancy means exchanging vouchers
A transfer-out does not require returning the handbook, and (except for loss) the new city does not reissue one; instead the new city issues its own usable slips. Adachi exchanges out-of-Tokyo slips for Tokyo-usable ones against remaining visit counts, and Yokohama issues city slips to transfer-ins carrying the old handbook and old slips.13 File the move first, then visit the new counter before the next checkup.
If the handbook is lost, the replacement is blank
Yokohama reissues on the spot but past checkup and vaccination records are not restored, the voucher slips are not reissued, and reissue is limited to children up to elementary age. Adachi likewise reissues a blank handbook with no records carried over.12 Photograph or transcribe entries as backup while the original exists.
See also
- Maternity and Childbirth Allowances
- Birth Registration and the 14-Day Rule
- Finding an English-Speaking Provider
- NHI Enrollment at the Ward Office
- The Boshi-Techo (Maternal and Child Health Handbook)
- Prenatal Checkup Vouchers and Subsidies