Japanese medical and pharmacy cards
Switch between the emergency card, which prints your blood type, drug allergies, conditions, medication and contacts with a Japanese label in front of every value, and the pharmacy card, which names your symptom and asks for medicine you can buy without a prescription. Both print ten to an A4 sheet and both are built entirely inside your browser.
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Nothing is uploaded — the card is built in your browser
This tool only prints what you type. It gives no medical advice, makes no diagnosis and guarantees no translation of anything you write yourself.
The emergency card: ten fields, Japanese labels
Name, nationality, date of birth, blood type, drug allergies, existing conditions, current medication, emergency contact, travel insurance and embassy. Each value you type is printed after its Japanese label — 血液型, 薬のアレルギー, 持病, 服用中の薬, 緊急連絡先 — so an ambulance crew reads the label even when the value stays in English. The card opens by saying you do not speak Japanese and ends with the reminder that the ambulance number here is 119, not 911 or 112.
The pharmacy card: 20 symptoms in one line each
Headache, fever, diarrhoea, cough, hay fever, period pain, motion sickness, insect bites, sunburn, sore throat, runny nose, stomach ache, nausea, constipation, heartburn, toothache, back pain, itchy eyes, skin rash and hangover. Tick one or two, add how many days it has lasted, and the card closes with 処方箋なしで買える薬を教えてください — please show me medicine I can buy without a prescription. That sentence is the one that actually opens the shelf.
Why Japanese drugstores need a card at all
A Japanese drugstore stocks almost everything a traveller needs without a prescription, but every box is labelled in Japanese only and the staff, while helpful, usually do not work in English. Stronger products need the pharmacist on duty rather than a registered seller, which is why you are sometimes asked to wait. A card that names the symptom in one polite sentence turns a five-minute mime into a ten-second exchange.
Print it once, carry it everywhere
The default card is 91 by 55 millimetres, Japanese business-card size, and ten fit on one A4 or US Letter sheet with cut lines as a single-page PDF. Print at 100 percent scaling, never "fit to page". A6 gives four bigger cards per sheet and A5 gives one. A phone gets the same card as a 1080 pixel PNG, which is the version to use when your hands are full at a counter.
Health information that never leaves your device
This tool has no server, no account and no analytics on what you enter. The phrase database is a static file bundled with the page, and the PDF is assembled by JavaScript inside your own tab. Your medication list, your conditions and your emergency contact stay on your device, which matters more on this page than on any other card here.
What this card is not
It gives no medical advice and makes no diagnosis. The generator prints exactly what you tick and type; nothing is verified, and free text you write yourself is printed word for word rather than translated. In a real emergency, call 119 and let a professional take over — the card exists to save the two minutes spent explaining who you are.
Frequently asked questions
What number do I call for an ambulance in Japan?
Dial 119 for an ambulance or the fire service, and 110 for the police. Both are free from any phone, including payphones. The ambulance itself costs nothing; you pay the hospital afterwards, which is why the insurance field on the emergency card is worth filling in.
Can I buy medicine in Japan without a prescription?
Most everyday remedies, yes: painkillers, cold medicine, antihistamines, anti-diarrhoeals, stomach medicine, anti-itch creams and eye drops are all sold over the counter at a drugstore. A small group of stronger products needs the pharmacist rather than a registered seller. The card asks for the over-the-counter option explicitly.
Should I write my medication in English or Japanese?
English is fine, but use the generic name rather than the brand — brand names differ between countries while the generic is what a Japanese doctor will recognise. The Japanese label 服用中の薬 is printed in front of your value, so staff always know what field they are looking at.
How many cards do I get, and what size?
Ten cards at 91 by 55 millimetres on one A4 sheet with cut lines, as a one-page PDF. A6 gives four per sheet and A5 gives one large card. Ticking the back side adds a second page with the English text, mirrored so it lines up when the sheet is flipped on its long edge.
Is my medical information uploaded anywhere?
No. There is no server and no account. The sentences ship as a static file with the page and the PDF is generated in your browser, so the card only ever exists on your own device.