Thursday, May 22, 2008

Japanese Emergency Number

In the United States to call for emergency service (Fire, Police, and Ambulance) you would dial 911. In Japan you dial 110 for police and 119 for fire and ambulance service. It is free to call for emergencies.
Here is what you would say if you need fire or ambulance service.
  1. For a fire : kaji desu. = There is a fire.
    For an ambulance : Kyukyusha desu. = We need an ambulance.
  2. Jusyo wa xxxx desu. = The address is xxxx.
  3. Watashi wa (name) desu. = My name is (name).
    Denwa bango wa xxxx desu. = My telephone number is xxxx.
  4. Chikaku ni (landmark)ga arimasu. = There is a (landmark)nearby.
  5. State what has happened:
    Keganin ga imasu. = Someone is injured.
    Kyubyo desu. = Someone is seriously ill.
    Hito ga taorete imasu. = Someone has fainted.
Picture is from the English fanscan of the Ranma ½ manga where they changed 119 to 911. In addition to that instance the use of these numbers occur at other times in the manga. The memory suppressing shampoo used by Shampoo is 110 (changed to 411, the number for information in the USA, in the translation) and the counter formula is called 119 (changed to 911 in translation).

1 comment:

antimatterenergy said...

I feel I should mention that calling 411 is not free in most areas and in general it would be best to use a free alternative such as 1-800-FREE411.