insurance
Public Health Center
保健所 (hokenjo)
A public health center (保健所, hokenjo) is a government-run facility providing community health services including infectious disease control, tuberculosis screening, mental health consultations, maternal and child health programs, and food sanitation oversight. They issue health-related certificates, manage vaccination programs, and coordinate disease surveillance. Some centers offer multilingual consultations or referrals to interpretation services for foreign residents.
Japan's public health centers played a central role in COVID-19 testing and contact tracing and remain important first contacts for infectious disease reporting and public health concerns.
In 9 languages
| Language | Term |
|---|---|
| English | Public Health Center |
| Japanese (日本語) | 保健所 |
| Chinese (中文) | 保健所 |
| Korean (한국어) | 보건소 |
| Portuguese | Centro de saúde pública |
| Spanish | Centro de salud pública |
| Filipino | Sentro ng kalusugang pampubliko |
| Thai | สำนักงานสาธารณสุข |
| Vietnamese | Trung tâm y tế công cộng |
| Romanization | hokenjo |
Learn more in the guide:
Read the guide →Last reviewed: September 2026