The safest country
you can still get burned in.

The lowest of four levels, and its substance is geology and weather rather than people: typhoons “from summer to fall”, earthquakes because Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, plus tsunamis and landslides. A global Worldwide Caution banner sits above it, as for every country.

Updated 4 August 2026, still current at 13 August 2026. Its newest addition: a magnitude 7.1 quake struck Kumamoto prefecture on 28 July 2026 and aftershocks may disrupt travel. The US Embassy issued a matching alert. The 2024 Nankai Trough megaquake advisory was lifted a week after issue and is not in force.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police describe it themselves: touts lure you to partner bars, then charge excessive fees or use your card without your knowledge while you are drunk. The forced-ATM step is police-documented — bars have spiked drinks and then walked customers to a cash machine. There is a dating-app version too. TMPD refreshed its warning maps in February 2026, so this is current, not historical.

The FCDO reports victims waking with no memory and large sums billed to their cards, from hundreds to tens of thousands of pounds. The police-identified zones are Kabukicho, Roppongi, Shibuya and Ikebukuro; most British victims were targeted in Kabukicho. Some incidents escalated to robbery and assault.

A 2024 Cabinet Office survey of over 36,000 people aged 16–29 found 10.5% had been groped or subjected to indecent acts in public. Women were nearly 90% of those reporting assault, and about two-thirds said it happened on a train, mostly in the rush.

Reported crime rose 4.9% in 2025 to 774,142 offences, the fourth straight rise and above 2019. Theft was about two-thirds of it. Separately, men in orange robes near temples in Tokyo and Osaka slip a bracelet onto your wrist and demand a donation, reported up to ¥10,000.

Marunouchi, Ginza, Asakusa, Ueno, Shibuya and Shinjuku are all normal places to stay. Kabukicho is where the tout economy concentrates — but walking through it, eating in it, drinking in a bar you picked yourself is unremarkable. Street prostitution clusters at Okubo Park; buying sex is illegal, and TMPD warns about the “badger game”, where a promise of sex ends with third parties demanding money.

Since October 2023 the Gion district association has banned photography on its private alleys, with a ¥10,000 fine, after geiko and maiko were chased and pressured into selfies. It is still permitted on public streets including Hanami-koji and Shirakawa-dori. Treat the small side lanes off Hanami-koji as private property, because they are.

Unlicensed “white taxis” work Haneda and Narita arrivals, negotiating through a translation app. One couple was quoted ¥10,000 to Ginza, about ¥2,000 over the legal fare; another paid ¥30,000 Haneda to Shinjuku, roughly triple. Five people were arrested in February 2024 for running unlicensed services out of Haneda.

Last trains in central Tokyo run roughly midnight to 1am; the first resume around 04:30. Missing one is a money problem — a capsule hotel is typically ¥3,000–5,000. A taxi adds a 20% surcharge between 22:00 and 05:00 on a ¥500 flag-fall for roughly the first kilometre. Guides report an upward fare revision on 20 April 2026; we could not confirm the exact increment officially.

Suica, PASMO and the other IC cards work on trains, buses and in convenience stores nationwide. The 7-day Ordinary Japan Rail Pass rises to ¥53,000 on 1 October 2026; confirm that on the official pass site before budgeting.

Police 110. Fire and ambulance 119. Coast guard 118. Police non-emergency with English available, #9110. JNTO’s Japan Visitor Hotline runs 24/7/365 in English, Chinese and Korean on 050-3816-2787 (+81-50-3816-2787 from overseas). TMPD’s English helpline is 24 hours on 03-3501-0110. Police lost and found: 0570-550-142. Tokyo English Life Line: 03-5774-0992.

1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420. Phone 03-3224-5000 — the same number after hours; ask for the duty officer. For Kyoto the relevant post is Consulate General Osaka-Kobe, 2-11-5 Nishitenma, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-8543, on 06-6315-5900. Enrol in STEP before you go.

Many common American prescription and over-the-counter drugs are illegal in Japan regardless of a valid US prescription, and bringing them risks arrest and detention. Without an import certificate you may bring one month’s supply of prescription drugs. Narcotics and psychotropics — where ADHD stimulants and some codeine products land — need advance permission from a Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare, which can take weeks. Email yakkan@mhlw.go.jp (Narita, Haneda) or kiyakuji@mhlw.go.jp (Kansai).

Temperatures often exceed 35°C in July and August. Japan recorded an all-time high of 41.8°C in 2025 and over 100,000 heatstroke hospitalisations that summer; 2024 saw a record 2,000-plus heatstroke deaths. The Environment Ministry runs an alert system from late April to late October, with a prefecture-level Special Alert at wet-bulb globe temperature 35 and above.

The drill, per JNTO and the embassy: check the evacuation route at check-in; indoors during a large quake, stay put and follow staff; extinguish naked flames, because secondary fire is the main killer; near the coast, move to high ground without waiting for confirmation. Install JNTO’s Safety Tips app for government alerts in English. Typhoon season runs June to December, peaking July to September.