Protection starts with your own actions

The basic idea of "Protection starts with your own actions."

• In order to avoid possible emergencies or incidents while abroad please keep this phrase in mind. It means that always considering your actions and their effects is most important for your safety.
• Researching the conditions of your destination and getting mentally prepared for your trip can help you avoid difficulties, accidents, etc.

What "Protection starts with your own actions." involves

To avoid problems abroad, please pay attention to the following and to your surroundings when travelling.

• Avoid dangerous places
• Do not carry large amounts of cash or valuables, avoid conspicuous dress and actions, research measures to avoid situations, etc. abroad
• In case of robbery, do not resist
• Do not easily trust people you have just met
• Keep aware of your location and maintain a method of communication
• Contact your family regularly
• Follow the local laws and regulations, respect the country's religion and culture
• Additionally, do not use illegal drugs or those that may be illegal in Japan

Please check the "Emergency and Risk Management Manual for Students" (PDF: 2.7MB) for more information to ensure your safety while travelling.

Information concerning emergencies and risks abroad

Collecting information in advance

• There are areas abroad which should be avoided due to deterioration of public security. With this in mind "Avoid dangerous places" is the simplest way to ensure your safety, and it is important to research in advance the current situation of your proposed destination and measures that can be taken there.
• Please use the internet to gather information concerning travel to your proposed destination. Please view your country's foreign affairs homepages and other sites with up-to-date information concerning public security, disasters, emergency situations, infectious diseases and their outbreaks, and advice about travelling and living abroad.

Travel abroad standards for execution, cancellation, postponement and temporary return

NAIST faculty, staff and students should decide whether to travel abroad, or cancel, postpone or temporary return from it with the standards for travel abroad, based on the Overseas Travel Safety Information (emergency and infectious disease emergency information) for each country released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan. This information is only found in Japanese, so, if necessary, discuss this with your supervising instructor.

Registering contact information while abroad

Clearly alert others of your whereabouts

Even with the best planning based on up-to-date information, situations abroad may change drastically at any point in time. Considering this, it is important to always alert others of your address and/or whereabouts.

Register at your embassy / consulate / etc.

Depending on your country of citizenship, there are various services offered when travelling abroad. Please check these and other registration options to ensure that your presence is made known during your stay and that you will be able to receive emergency and other information.

Study Abroad Request / Overseas Travel Notification

To confirm your safety and whereabouts in times of emergency, etc. abroad, you must submit a Study Abroad Request when you will study abroad or an Overseas Travel Notification when travelling abroad officially or studying abroad during a leave of absence (Submit to Educational Affairs Division) Click here for more information.

Notification of contact information / schedule changes

• If your contact information will change while abroad or your schedule and/or destination will change, notify NAIST, your family, etc. of changes and new information.
• Confirm your emergency contact information abroad (address, phone number, etc. abroad) with your family.

When you are involved in an accident/incident

Contact your embassy/consulate

If you are involved in an accident or incident while abroad, especially when you may be in serious physical danger, it is important to contact the local emergency services and/or police, or the embassy/consulate to request assistance. Please confirm the contact information for these in advance.

Contact NAIST

If you are involved in an accident or incident while abroad, contact your supervising professor as soon as possible. If this is not possible, contact the Educational Affairs Division. If outside of office hours, contact the Disaster Prevention Center and leave basic information.

International travel insurance

International travel insurance

At NAIST, international travel insurance in case of injury, etc. domestically and abroad is purchased for students who travel officially for NAIST.
The details of the coverage can be found at "Travel/training (domestic/international) travel insurance."[※The English version is under construction] (Intranet) Make sure to check the coverage and details before departure.
Please note that if you will travel or study abroad during a leave of absence, you are not eligible for the above travel insurance, so you must purchase insurance individually.
In cases where hospitalization or surgery become necessary, medical and other costs for transportation, visitation, etc. may soon become extremely expensive. Additionally, depending on the level of medical treatment and facilities of the destination, transferal to another country may be necessary and require additional payment. Please purchase insurance to protect yourself from these possible expensive costs.
Make sure your family also knows the details of your insurance coverage before your departure.