BridgeMAIT is a wheelchair accessible taxi and medical transport service based in Yokohama, Japan, operated by an English-speaking owner-driver. We take you to hospitals and clinics in a lift-equipped vehicle, accompany you inside, and stay by your side through reception, consultation, payment, and the pharmacy — all in English. We serve Yokohama, Kawasaki, Tokyo, and the greater Kanagawa area, including Haneda Airport and Yokohama cruise terminals.
In the United States and other countries, this kind of service is known as non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) or a patient advocate service. In Japan it barely exists — hospitals rarely have English-speaking staff at reception, and taxi drivers do not enter the building with you. BridgeMAIT was built to close that gap: one person who drives you safely, speaks for you, and helps you find the right door in an unfamiliar medical system.
Who this service is for
- Overseas visitors who become ill or injured during their trip to Japan — and their travel companions who suddenly have to navigate Japanese hospitals, insurance, and paperwork in a language they do not read.
- Foreign residents in Yokohama and Tokyo who want an English speaker at their side for hospital appointments, health checks, or a family member’s treatment.
- Wheelchair users and seniors who need lift-equipped transport to medical appointments, with assistance that continues inside the hospital rather than ending at the entrance.
- Families overseas who cannot be in Japan while a parent, partner, or friend is going through treatment here, and who want a trusted English-speaking contact on the ground.
What we do
Before your visit
- 病院・クリニックの車椅子対応状況と英語対応の有無を確認し、状況に合った医療機関選びをお手伝いします。
- Help you book the appointment and prepare the documents you will be asked for.
- If you have travel insurance, check whether a cashless-payment partner hospital is available to you.
On the day
- Pick you up at your hotel, residence, or hospital in a lift-equipped wheelchair accessible vehicle — you board without leaving your wheelchair.
- Accompany you inside: reception, registration forms, and explaining your situation to hospital staff.
- Sit with you during the consultation, help you and the doctor understand each other, and take notes so nothing is lost.
- Support you through payment and at the pharmacy, and make sure you understand how to take your medication.
After your visit
- Provide a short written summary of the visit in English — for you, and with your consent, for your family overseas.
- Help you arrange follow-up appointments or repeat visits.
When something goes wrong: discharge and emergency support
Some situations are bigger than a hospital appointment. A sudden hospitalization far from home. A discharge date arriving before anyone has arranged where you will go next. An insurance company, a hospital social worker, and a family across the ocean who all need to talk to each other — in two languages.
We help you navigate these situations. We do not make medical decisions, but we help you find the right doors: the hospital’s patient support center and medical social worker, your travel insurance company’s assistance desk, your embassy or consulate’s citizen services, and appropriate rehabilitation or care facilities. Japan’s medical system has good support structures — but they are hard to find if no one shows you where they are.
Recently, we supported an overseas visitor who had been discharged from a Yokohama hospital shortly after major surgery, with no receiving facility arranged and only a hotel room to return to. Beyond safe wheelchair transport, we worked in English with the client’s companion to bring order to the situation: confirming what their travel insurance could cover, reconnecting them with the hospital’s patient support center and social worker, and providing contact points for their consulate. Our role was not to treat or to decide — it was to make sure they were no longer facing the system alone.
Why BridgeMAIT can do this: a project manager behind the wheel
Our owner-driver has spent 36 years in consulting and project management, supporting client decision-making in English-speaking markets — including projects for pharmaceutical and other corporate clients. — including projects for pharmaceutical and other corporate clients. The core of that work never changed: take a complex situation with many stakeholders, incomplete information, and a hard deadline, and turn it into clear options and a next step.
Medical issues abroad follow exactly this pattern. Doctors, social workers, insurance companies, and family members on the other side of the time zone—everyone has only a partial view of the big picture. We apply the discipline of project management to your situation. Who makes which decisions? What information is missing? What are the deadlines? Where do the various options lead? The decisions are yours to make. Our job is to create the conditions that allow you to make those decisions with a clear view of the entire picture.
Pricing
Transport and support are priced separately, so you only pay for what you need.
- Hospital support and coordination is a private-pay service, not covered by Japan's long-term care insurance.
- Transport: standard taxi meter fare plus boarding assistance fee — the same rates as all BridgeMAIT services (see our Pricing page).
- Hospital support & coordination: ¥15,000 per hour, billed in 30-minute units. Waiting time during your consultation is included in support time.
- Remote coordination without transport (phone / email with hospitals, insurers, or your family) is charged at the same rate.
- Half-day package (recommended for first visits): up to 4 hours of support for ¥48,000, plus transport. First visits to Japanese hospitals often take 2–4 hours.
Important notes
- We are not doctors or nurses. We do not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Our service is communication and coordination support, not medical judgment.
- We are not certified medical interpreters. Our English support covers everyday hospital communication. For high-stakes situations such as surgery consent or complex diagnosis, we will recommend that the hospital arrange a professional medical interpreter — and we can help you request one.
- Physical assistance (transfers, mobility support) is provided within the scope of our certified caregiving qualifications, the same as our regular care taxi service.
Service area and vehicle
We are based in Yokohama’s Minami ward and serve all of Yokohama, Kawasaki, Tokyo, and Kanagawa, including Haneda Airport, Narita Airport, and the Yokohama cruise terminals. Our Toyota HiAce is fitted with a wheelchair lift and a suspension package tuned specifically for passenger comfort — because a ride to the hospital should not hurt.
How to book
For scheduled appointments, please contact us 24–48 hours in advance. For urgent situations, contact us and we will do our best to respond the same day. Please tell us: where you are staying, which hospital (if known), your appointment time, and whether you use a wheelchair.
Email: info@bridgemait.co.jp
WhatsApp: +81 90-3285-1976
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- I’m sick in Japan and I don’t speak Japanese. What should I do?
If it is life-threatening, call 119 for an ambulance — it is free of charge. For anything less urgent, we can help you find an English-friendly hospital or clinic in the Yokohama/Tokyo area, drive you there in a wheelchair accessible vehicle, and stay with you through the entire visit.
- Can someone come with me into the hospital in Japan?
Yes. Unlike a regular taxi, our service does not end at the hospital entrance. We accompany you inside and support you through reception, the consultation, payment, and the pharmacy, in English.
- Can you help after I’ve been discharged from a hospital in Japan?
Yes. We provide safe transport from the hospital and can help coordinate what comes next — connecting you with the hospital’s social worker, your travel insurance assistance desk, your consulate, and follow-up care. This is the situation where we are asked for help most often.
- Japanese hospitals have medical social workers. Why would I need this service?
Hospital social workers are valuable professionals, and one of the first things we often do is connect you with them. But three things are different about us: we belong to no hospital and act only on your side; we work in English, including with your family overseas and your insurance company; and we continue beyond the hospital walls — transport to the next facility, follow-up visits, and coordination across multiple hospitals and care providers. A social worker’s support generally ends at their hospital’s doors. Ours doesn’t.
- Are you doctors or certified medical interpreters?
No. We are a licensed care taxi operator with caregiving qualifications and business-level English. We support communication and logistics; for surgery consent or complex medical explanations, we recommend and help arrange the hospital’s professional interpreter.
- How much does it cost?
Transport is charged at standard meter rates plus an assistance fee. In-hospital support is ¥15,000 per hour. A typical first hospital visit (half-day package, up to 4 hours) is ¥48,000 plus transport.
- Do you cover Tokyo, or only Yokohama?
Although our base is in Yokohama, we routinely serve Tokyo and Kawasaki for trips starting or ending in Kanagawa Prefecture, and we can also provide pick-up service at Narita and Haneda airports. For hospitals in central Tokyo, please let us know the location, and we will let you know if we can accommodate your request.
- My family member is in a hospital in Japan and I’m overseas. Can you help?
Yes. With your family member’s consent, we can visit, accompany them to appointments, and send you a written summary in English after each visit, so you always know what is happening.
- My hospital offers a phone or video interpreter service. Do I still need an escort?
Many Japanese hospitals provide remote medical interpreter services by phone or video, which cover conversations with your doctor during the consultation itself. However, these services typically do not cover everything else: getting from your home to the hospital, checking in at reception, moving between examination rooms, handling payment and pharmacy pickup, or returning home safely. BridgeMAIT's hospital escort service supports you through the entire journey — from your door to the hospital and back — with an English-speaking driver who is also a certified care worker. Our service works alongside the hospital's interpreter service, so your whole visit is covered, not just the consultation.