(Note: Unfortunately, there  is not a lot of support for mental health in Tokyo or throughout Japan, let alone specific support for men and mental health. Mental health and suicide are still heavily stigmatised topics, and need to be addressed carefully. Below are the few services available. If you are in need to support, please contact emergency for urgent (life threatening cases), or call Japan Helpline, 0570 000 911 - 24 hours/7 days a week.) 

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Important Note: In Japan, there are 3 major groups of mental health care providers: psychiatrists, psychologists (some of whom consider themselves as counsellors), and psychosomatic medicine doctors.

 

Psychiatrists work at psychiatrist department in hospitals or specialised clinic. They specialise in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems, such as depression or insomnia. The consulting time they can provide is generally very short, less than 20 min or so. They can prescribe medications to treat mental illnesses.

 

Clinical psychologists provide counselling services. They are working in mental health clinics, mental hospitals and counselling centres. Some clinical psychologists work on freelance basis or provide telephone counselling. Their counselling service is not covered by Japanese Health Insurance. In Japan there’s no licensed ‘counsellor’. If you’re depressed and unfortunate enough to try one of them, you’d find out that they literally shame you for being selfish and have suicidal thoughts, so it is not the best option. It is better to consult with a psychiatrist or an accredited clinical psychologist.

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MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT

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EMERGENCY  (24 hours 7 days a week)

Ambulance / Emergency Rescue Tel: 119

Police Tel: 110

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Japan Helpline

Tel: 0570 000 911 24 hours/7 days a week

The Japan Helpline is Japan's only 24-hour non-profit, nationwide emergency assistance service. Call 24 hours a day, from anywhere about anything, anytime from a simple question to emergency assistance.

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Tokyo English Lifeline (TELL)

Serving Japan’s international community since 1973, TELL offers phone, chat, and face-to-face counselling. Regarding TELL’s phone counselling, it’s a helpline akin to that of Samaritans and other crisis helplines. While calls are not toll-free, you can call the line if you need a safe space to talk about your troubles completely anonymously.

• Phone and chat counselling
  Phone: 03-5774-0992
  Hours: (Phone) 9:00 am-11:00 pm every day; (chat) 10:30 pm on Saturdays-9:00 am on Sundays

• Face-to-face counselling (Minato-ku, Tokyo)
  Phone: 03-4550-1146
  Hours: 9:00 am-5:00 pm on weekdays

• Online Chat: https://telljp.com/lifeline/tell-chat

• The weekends can be tough and sometimes you may not feel like talking on the phone, so why not chat to us online? We’re online every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 pm to 2 am.

• Tokyo English Lifeline Hotline: Counselling: 03 5774 0992 / Hotline: Face to Face: 03 3498 0231

 

Japan Befrienders

Tel: 03 5286 9090 (open all-year round from 8pm to 6am, and and from 5pm to 6am (Tuesdays only)

This site is intended for people who are unwell, closed up, are thinking of suicide, or are concerned about friends and relatives. It contains candid information that is considered useful. All information pages in this section are written in Japanese.

 

Telephone of Life - Japan（Federation of Inochi-no-Denwa)

Tel: 0570 783 556 (Navi dial from 10am to 8pm)

Visit this link: https://www.inochinodenwa.org/lifeline.php for a list of all Life Line telephone numbers across Japan, with operating hours. Please note that this is a very limited service. For the service to be used by many people, "Network Consultation" is limited to three times in one period (up to 6 months). In addition, it will be a "wait period" of 3 weeks from the time when the reply is returned to the third consultation.

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BI Suicide Prevention Centre, Osaka 
Hotline: +81 (0) 6 4395 4343
 

Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health - Mental Health and Welfare Centres

Tokyo Metropolitan Chubu General Mental Health and Welfare Centre - 10 western wards of the special ward: Minato-ku, Shinjuku-ku, Shinagawa-ku, Meguro-ku, Ota-ku, Setagaya-ku, Shibuya-ku, Nakano-ku, Suginami-ku and Nerima-ku

• Tel: 03-3302-7711 (9:00 am to 5:00 pm from Monday to Friday, except the year-end and New Year holidays)

Tokyo Metropolitan Mental Health and Welfare Centre - Eastern 13 wards (other wards) and island area

• Tel: 03-384-24 22

Tokyo Metropolitan Tama Mental Health and Welfare Centre - Tama area

• Tel: 042-371-5560

For night-time telephone consultation, please call 03-5155-5028 every day, from 5 pm to 10 pm (the reception desk is until 9:30 pm)

 

Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital (TMMH)

Tel: 03-3303-7211

TMMH provides prompt and appropriate care including emergency care, both medically and mentally, for patients with physical illness who are difficult to treat at general hospitals due to mental symptoms such as agitation and poor rapport.

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Tokyo Counselling Services

Telephone Tokyo 5431-3096

Tokyo Counselling Services mental health counselling professionals are qualified JSCCP Clinical Psychologists licensed to practice in Japan. Our counsellors provide individual counselling, couples counselling, marriage counselling and family counselling. group therapy and psychotherapy services. Counselling and therapy services are available in English, French, German, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese for all residents living in the Tokyo Metropolis and Kanto region.

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International Mental Health Professionals Japan (IMHPJ)

IMHPJ is an interdisciplinary network of individuals and organizations providing mental health care, therapy and related services (in English) to the people of the various nationalities living in Japan.

 

Japan Society of Certified Clinical Psychologists (JSCCP)

The JSCCP provides a resource (Japanese-only) that helps locate JSCCP-approved therapists in any part of Japan, and can be searched for by language, among other specifications. You can use a browser translation tool to help you navigate it, or ask someone you trust who can help you read it and search.

 

Tokyo Mental Health

Tokyo Mental Health provides medical psychiatric treatment such as antidepressant and other medication, cognitive therapy and relaxation techniques for patients with depression or other mood disorders, anxiety disorders and other common mental health problems. Tokyo Mental Health also offers face-to-face counselling and psychotherapy with English-speaking psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists.  Access the link here for a medical appointment: https://www.tokyomentalhealth.com/contact-maps

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