Before you go
This site offers information based on guidance from the police, fire departments, rental car companies and others, as a starting point when something goes wrong on your trip (as of September 2026; it isn’t an explanation of the law). How things are handled differs by company and agency, and it can change. If you actually have an accident or a breakdown, follow the instructions of the police and fire department, and the guidance of the company you rented from.
You hit something. You got a flat. The car won’t move, right there on the road.
Whether it’s an accident or a breakdown, the first steps are almost always the same.
Somewhere safe → 110 or 119 → the rental car company.
This article goes through those three in order. After that, it covers two things to get ready before you set off.
1. First, get somewhere safe
On the expressway, the steps are different. First, warn the cars behind you with your hazard lights, an emergency flare and a warning triangle (place the flare and the warning triangle if you can do so safely). Next, everyone moves somewhere safe behind your own car, such as the other side of the guardrail. Don’t wait inside the car. Once you’ve moved, report it by calling 110 or using an emergency telephone. If anyone is hurt and needs an ambulance, call 119 for an ambulance. For details, see “If Your Car Stops on the Expressway — Don’t Wait Inside.”
From here on, these are the steps for ordinary roads.
If you have an accident or a breakdown on the road, move the car somewhere it won’t be in the way of other cars, and turn off the engine.
On ordinary roads too, use a warning triangle to let people around you know there’s been an accident (Hokkaido Government). Check whether one is in the car when you set off (“If Your Car Stops on the Expressway — Don’t Wait Inside”).
Don’t move anyone who’s been hurt unless you really have to.
Move the car. Don’t move the people.
2. If anyone is hurt, call 119; for the accident, call 110
If anyone is hurt, first call 119 for an ambulance. While you wait for it, give whatever first aid you can.
Report the accident to the police by calling 110. Call even for a small accident (Toyota Rent a Car, Budget Rent a Car). The reason is in “Rental Car Scratch in Japan? Call 110 Even for a Small One — The Police Report You May Need Later.”
Make the call after you’ve stopped the car and gotten yourself somewhere safe. Don’t call while driving or walking (Hokkaido Police).
If you don’t understand Japanese, or you can’t make the call yourself, ask someone nearby for help.
The police in Tokyo, Osaka and Hokkaido explain in their English-language guidance that if you can’t communicate in Japanese, they’ll connect you to an interpreter. Stay on the line and wait.
After the call, don’t leave the scene; wait somewhere safe until the police arrive.
3. Last, the rental car company
The rental car company’s number is on the paper you get when you rent the car, called the Rental Guide (Times Car Rental, Nippon Rent-A-Car, ORIX Rent a Car).
At Nippon Rent-A-Car, have your rental agreement in hand when you call.
For what to know about each problem when your car breaks down — a flat tire, a dead battery, the key, running out of gas and so on — see “Breakdown, Flat Tire, Dead Battery, Locked-In Key, Out of Gas — A Step Card for When Your Car Stops.”
The only numbers to remember are 110 and 119. For the rest, your rental paper is all you need.
Before you set off (1): Can your phone call 110?
With a data-only SIM, you may not be able to call 110 or 119. 110 may not go through on a smartphone roaming from overseas, either (Osaka Prefectural Police).
If the number on your rental paper starts with 0120 or 0570, it may not connect from an overseas mobile phone either. If another number is listed too, note that one down as well.
So before you set off, get just two things ready.
・One way to make regular phone calls
・The number on your rental paper, somewhere you can pull it up right away
Check with the company you bought your SIM from whether it can call 110.
Before you set off (2): In Hokkaido, watch out for deer in the evening
In Hokkaido, about 41% of deer-related accidents each year happen in October and November, and by time of day, more than 70% happen between 16:00 and 24:00.
Deer move in herds. If one crosses the road, expect a second one to follow. Even when a car comes close, they may stand still instead of running away.
An English flyer made by the Hokkaido Police, the Hokkaido rental car association (北海道レンタカー協会) and others includes a line like this.
Drive slowly, and you get to enjoy Hokkaido’s beautiful scenery for longer.
On evening roads, take your time.
If you do hit a deer, follow the same order as in this article.
For now, just this order
Somewhere safe → 110 or 119 → the number on your rental paper.
Just remember these three.
In front of a parking lot payment machine, it’s a different story. If you’re stuck there, don’t move the car; press the intercom (“When Something Goes Wrong in a Japanese Parking Lot — Press the Intercom First“).
※ How things are handled differs by company and region, and it can change.
