This article was written by the NIPPON VISA & LIFE editorial team based on information from public organizations such as the national government and local governments. Rules and fees may differ depending on the city, ward, town or village where you live.
At the reception desk of hospitals and pharmacies in Japan, you show either a My Number health insurance card (myna hokensho, a My Number card that has been registered for use as a health insurance card) or an eligibility certificate (shikaku kakuninsho). The old health insurance cards expired on December 1, 2025. If you do not have a My Number health insurance card, the medical insurance you belong to will send you an eligibility certificate without you having to apply.
The overall steps for seeing a doctor are summarized in How to See a Doctor in Japan: Choosing Between Hospitals and Clinics, What to Show at Reception, the Medical Questionnaire, Paying, and Getting Your Medicine at a Pharmacy.
The Short Answer: What to Show at Hospital Reception
| Your situation | What to show at reception |
|---|---|
| You have a My Number card and have registered it for use as a health insurance card | Your My Number health insurance card (your My Number card). At hospitals and pharmacies that are ready for it, you can also use your smartphone |
| You do not have a My Number card, or you have not registered it | Your eligibility certificate |
| You have a My Number health insurance card, but reception could not be done with the card | Your My Number card + the eligibility information screen on Myna Portal, or your My Number card + the Notice of Eligibility Information (shikaku joho no oshirase, on paper) |
If you cannot show any of the items in the table above, you will first have to pay the full medical cost yourself. If you apply later, you may get money back (see “What if I have just started a job and can use neither a My Number health insurance card nor an eligibility certificate?” below).
(Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Methods of Confirming Eligibility”, Immigration Services Agency “Guidebook on Living and Working”)
What Is a My Number Health Insurance Card?
When you register your My Number card “for use as a health insurance card” (this is called use registration, riyo toroku), that card becomes a My Number health insurance card. You can use it at hospitals and pharmacies that display a sticker or poster showing that reception can be done with the card.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare explains that using a My Number health insurance card lets you do the following.
- If you agree, your past medical treatment information and information about medicines you have received can be shared with doctors and pharmacists
- When your medical costs become high, you are exempted from paying more than the upper limit at the outpatient counter without applying for a “Certificate of Eligibility for the Ceiling-Amount Application” (gendogaku tekiyo ninteisho) (limited to payments in the same month at the same medical institution)
- Because you can see your records of insured treatment and pharmacies on Myna Portal, you no longer need to keep and submit those receipts for the medical expense deduction in your final tax return (some records, such as acupuncture and moxibustion or bonesetter clinics (seikotsuin, sekkotsuin), cannot be seen)
For how the upper limit on medical costs works, see When Medical Costs Get High in Japan: How the High-Cost Medical Expense Benefit Works, Monthly Limits and How to Apply (Updated for the Changes from August 2026).
(Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card (My Number Health Insurance Card)”, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Frequently Asked Questions about Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card”)
How to Register Your My Number Card for Use as a Health Insurance Card
1. Get a My Number Card
If you do not have a My Number card, first apply for the card. You can apply online, by mail, or at a photo booth in town. How to apply for and receive the card is explained in My Number and the My Number Card in Japan: What Foreign Residents Should Know (When It Is Used, Applying, Extending the Expiration Date, and If You Lose It).
2. Register the Card for Use as a Health Insurance Card
You can do the use registration with your My Number card at any of the following 3 places.
- The card reader with face recognition at the reception desk of a hospital or pharmacy (a machine where you place your card and your identity is confirmed by your face or your PIN)
- Myna Portal on a smartphone or computer (the national government’s online service. The smartphone app was renamed “Myna App” (Myna Apuri) in August 2026)
- Seven Bank ATMs
How to operate each one is shown on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s page about use registration.
Once you have done the use registration, you do not need to register again when you change jobs, leave a job or move.
(Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “How to Use the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card”, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card (My Number Health Insurance Card)”, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Frequently Asked Questions about Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card”)
How to Use a My Number Health Insurance Card at Hospital and Pharmacy Reception
- Place your My Number card on the card reader with face recognition at reception
- Confirm your identity: by face recognition or by entering your 4-digit PIN (there is also a method where a reception staff member checks visually)
- Follow the instructions on the screen and choose whether to share your medical treatment information and medicine information with doctors and others
If face recognition does not work well, enter your PIN or speak to a reception staff member. For children, a parent or other person enters the PIN, or a staff member checks visually.
If You Have Forgotten Your My Number Card PIN or It Is Locked
Even if your PIN is locked, you can use the card as a health insurance card with face recognition or a visual check by a staff member. To unlock it, reset the 4-digit PIN (the password for the electronic certificate for user identification) at the counter of the city, ward, town or village where your resident record (juminhyo) is registered. If you know your signature password (6 to 16 characters), you can also reset it by combining a smartphone app with a terminal at a convenience store (a kiosk terminal).
When You Use Your Smartphone as a My Number Health Insurance Card
Since September 19, 2025, you can use your smartphone as a My Number health insurance card at hospitals and pharmacies that have the equipment ready. Before using it, add your My Number card to your smartphone in the Myna App (formerly the Myna Portal app).
- To set it up, you need your physical My Number card and your signature password (6 to 16 letters and numbers). On an iPhone, you also need the PIN for entering card information (4 digits).
- At reception, choose a button such as “Use smartphone” (sumatofon wo riyo) on the card reader screen, and hold your smartphone over the reader as instructed.
- Whether you can use a smartphone differs by hospital and pharmacy. Look at the sticker at reception or ask the hospital or pharmacy.
(Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Using a Smartphone as a My Number Health Insurance Card”)
What Is an Eligibility Certificate?
An eligibility certificate is a document that people who do not use a My Number health insurance card show at hospitals. It is free of charge and is issued by the insurer of the medical insurance you belong to (such as your company’s health insurance association, the Japan Health Insurance Association (Kyokai Kenpo), or your municipality’s National Health Insurance). You can see a doctor with the eligibility certificate alone.
People Who Receive an Eligibility Certificate Without Applying
- People who do not have a My Number card
- People who have a My Number card but have not registered it for use as a health insurance card
- People who have canceled the use registration of their My Number health insurance card
- People whose My Number card electronic certificate has expired
People Who Receive an Eligibility Certificate When They Apply
- People who have lost their My Number card, or whose card is being reissued
- People who find it difficult to see a doctor using a My Number card and need consideration, such as elderly people or people with disabilities
The expiration date of the eligibility certificate is set by the insurer, within 5 years. Its form and how it is delivered also differ by insurer. If you have questions, ask the insurer of the medical insurance you belong to.
How to See a Doctor When Your My Number Health Insurance Card Cannot Be Used at Reception
Sometimes reception cannot be done with a My Number health insurance card, for example because the machine is broken or the card’s IC chip is damaged. Even then, you can receive insured treatment with the usual out-of-pocket share by using one of the following methods.
- Show your My Number card + the eligibility information screen on Myna Portal (displayed on your smartphone on the spot, or as a downloaded PDF)
- Show your My Number card + the Notice of Eligibility Information (the Notice of Eligibility Information is a document that the insurer sends to people who have a My Number health insurance card. Show it on paper. You cannot see a doctor with this notice alone)
- If you have neither: at a hospital you have visited before, if the hospital has your insurance information, a staff member will confirm it verbally. At a hospital you are visiting for the first time, you fill in a “Declaration of Insured Status” (hihokensha shikaku moshitatesho, a form where you write yourself that you are enrolled in insurance)
To make the Notice of Eligibility Information easier to carry, you can also use it with only the necessary part cut out.
(Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Methods of Confirming Eligibility”, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Frequently Asked Questions about Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card”)
When You Are Not Sure: Frequently Asked Questions
If My Insurance Changes Because I Change Jobs or Move, Do I Need to Register My My Number Health Insurance Card Again?
You do not need to redo the use registration of your My Number health insurance card. However, you still need to complete the procedures for the new insurance you join (for company health insurance, notify your company; for National Health Insurance, notify your city, ward, town or village), as before. It takes some time before the information on your new insurance is entered into the system. For National Health Insurance procedures, see How to Join and Leave National Health Insurance in Japan: Who Must Join, the 14-Day Notification, What to Bring, Premiums and Reductions.
What If I Have Just Started a Job and Can Use Neither a My Number Health Insurance Card nor an Eligibility Certificate?
The Immigration Services Agency’s Guidebook on Living and Working explains that if you have just started a job, your My Number health insurance card registration is not yet complete, and you do not have an eligibility certificate with you, you first pay the full medical cost, and if you apply later and it is approved, the money minus your out-of-pocket share (a medical care allowance, ryoyohi) is returned to you. Ask the insurer of the insurance you belong to how to apply.
(Sources: Immigration Services Agency “Guidebook on Living and Working”)
What If the Electronic Certificate on My My Number Card Has Expired?
Apart from the expiration date of the card itself, a My Number card has an expiration date for its electronic certificate (a record inside the card used to confirm your identity). The electronic certificate is valid for 5 years. About 3 months before it expires, you will receive a notice by mail.
Even if you cannot renew it by the expiration date, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s frequently asked questions say that you can use the card as a health insurance card for 3 months from the last day of the month in which it expired. However, during that period your medical treatment information and medicine information are not shared, and functions other than the health insurance card cannot be used. Renew it early at the counter of the city, ward, town or village where you live. Renewal cannot be done online.
(Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Methods of Confirming Eligibility”, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Frequently Asked Questions about Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card”)
What Happens to My My Number Card When I Extend My Period of Stay?
For foreign nationals who have a period of stay (zairyu kikan), the expiration date of the My Number card is the same as the expiration date of the period of stay. Even if your period of stay is extended, the card’s expiration date is not extended automatically. Before the card expires, complete the procedure to extend the card’s expiration date at the city, ward, town or village where you live. If the expiration date passes, there is a fee to have the card reissued.
If the result of your application for Permission to extend period of stay (zairyu kikan no koshin kyoka) is unlikely to come out before the card’s expiration date, first extend the card’s expiration date by 2 months (the special period, tokurei kikan). When you receive your new residence card, extend it again to the expiration date of your new period of stay. For the detailed steps, see My Number and the My Number Card in Japan: What Foreign Residents Should Know (When It Is Used, Applying, Extending the Expiration Date, and If You Lose It).
(Sources: Immigration Services Agency “Guidebook on Living and Working”)
What Should I Do If I Lose My My Number Card?
Immediately call to ask for the card to be temporarily suspended. Call the My Number General Toll-Free Line (0120-95-0178), which accepts calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If the card is on your smartphone, call the same number. While your card is being reissued, you can receive an eligibility certificate by applying to your insurer.
(Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Frequently Asked Questions about Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card”, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “About the Eligibility Certificate (How to See a Doctor If You Do Not Use a My Number Health Insurance Card)”)
Foreign-Language Materials on the My Number Health Insurance Card and Where to Ask
- The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare publishes explanatory materials on the My Number health insurance card in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Tagalog, Thai, Portuguese, Nepali, Burmese and other languages: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “My Number Card as your Health Insurance Certificate (Foreign Language Materials)”
- Phone inquiries about the My Number card (call center. Monday to Friday 9:30 to 20:00, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays 9:30 to 17:30)
- Japanese: 0120-95-0178 (temporary suspension when you lose your card is accepted at this number 24 hours a day, 365 days a year)
- English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Tagalog and Nepali: 0120-0178-26
- For the eligibility certificate and procedures for the insurance you belong to: the insurer of the medical insurance you belong to (for company health insurance, the person in charge at your company or the health insurance association; for National Health Insurance, the counter of your city, ward, town or village)
(Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “My Number Card as your Health Insurance Certificate (Foreign Language Materials)”, Immigration Services Agency “Guidebook on Living and Working”, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Frequently Asked Questions about Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card”)
The overall medical system and places to get advice are summarized in When You Are Sick or Injured in Japan: The Basics of Hospitals, Ambulances, Medicine, Medical Insurance and Where to Get Advice.
Primary Sources Used for This Article
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Methods of Confirming Eligibility”
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “About the Eligibility Certificate (How to See a Doctor If You Do Not Use a My Number Health Insurance Card)”
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card (My Number Health Insurance Card)”
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “How to Use the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card”
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Frequently Asked Questions about Using the My Number Card as a Health Insurance Card”
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Using a Smartphone as a My Number Health Insurance Card”
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “My Number Card as your Health Insurance Certificate (Foreign Language Materials)”
- Immigration Services Agency “Guidebook on Living and Working”
This article is a translation of the original Japanese version.
