Inochi no denwa いのちの電話 (0120-783-556) This is a free counseling service in Japanese. It is part of the Federation of Inochi No Denwa (FIND). For details you can go to https://www.inochinodenwa.org/ .
TELL Lifeline (03-5774-0992) This is a free counseling line and, although it’s called a lifeline, which would suggest it deals with people contemplating suicide, they can deal with any issues troubling callers, from those DV-related to cultural adjustment problems and stressful work-related matters. Since the beginning of the pandemic they’ve begun to rely more on chat since it’s been difficult for volunteer counselors to get to the phone room. For lifeline details you can go to https://telljp.com/lifeline/ .
For more chronic problems that may require more than an occasional call to the lifeline, they also offer TELL professional counseling services, for a fee. This is explained at https://telljp.com/counseling/ .
TELL, through their website, offers resources on such issues as bullying (including workplace bullying), domestic abuse, stalking, sexual identity, dealing with stress and various types of mental illness, etc. For details, go to: https://telljp.com/resources/https://telljp.com/resources/ .
In addition, they have a great online directory of resources, broken down by categories such as health, education, legal and business, emergencies, etc: https://telljp.com/wiki/https://telljp.com/wiki/
Those seriously in need of professional counseling can find a therapist matched to their particular concerns—and that offer counseling in their preferred language—at the International Mental Health Professionals Japan website: https://www.imhpj.org/ . The counselors listed here are well vetted and have professional credentials.
See the video “When Students are Struggling: Maintaining Mental Hygiene” at: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9361953/video/694688024
