NAOJ Overseas Business Travel Insurance

The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) is committed to the safety of its staff and students, and in consideration of the various safety risks while traveling abroad, NAOJ provides overseas travel insurance to all staff and students who are traveling on official business. This guide is intended to help you understand how travel insurance is handled at NAOJ and its application procedures. Please read through this document to ensure that you have proper coverage while traveling overseas.

Table of Contents

  1. Which trips are covered?
  2. Who is covered? What does the travel insurance cover?
  3. Application procedures
  4. Security precautions while traveling on business
  5. Making changes to travel insurance policy (when re-scheduling/cancelling a trip)
  6. In case of illness / injury

1. Which trips are covered?

NAOJ’s travel insurance will cover the following overseas business travel:

  1. Trips departing from Japan to a foreign country and returning to Japan
    e.g. Japan -> Hawaii -> Japan
  2. Trips departing from a foreign country to Japan and returning to the country
    e.g. Hawaii -> Japan -> Hawaii
  3. Trips departing from a foreign country to Japan and then to another third country, and returning to the original country
    e.g. Hawaii -> Japan -> China -> Hawaii
*Excludes cases where a traveler lands in Japan only for the purpose of transiting through to another destination
e.g. Hawaii -> Japan (for transiting at Narita Airport) -> China -> Hawaii

Travel insurance will be valid throughout the entire period of the business trip. In principle, the travel insurance policy is designed to cover travelers from door-to-door, starting when they leave home and ending when they return home (as for travelers who must go on another business trip immediately following the preceding business trip without returning home, the coverage will end as of the date the traveler returns to his/her home country). Please note that the insurance period will be based on Japan Standard Time (JST) even for business trips originating in a foreign country (as shown in cases 2 and 3 above). We recommend travelers to obtain their own travel insurance for all private travel days.

2. Who is covered? What does the travel insurnace cover?

NAOJ overseas business travel insurance covers the following persons:

  1. NAOJ faculty and staff who are ordered to undertake overseas business travel from an individual having authority to make such order (including travel requests made from other institutes; however, excludes overseas assignment).
  2. Any person undertaking overseas business travel upon request from NAOJ.

Insurance coverage and maximum coverage amounts are as follows:

1. Injury death & residual disabilities       *\30,000,000*
2. Medical treatment cost (injury/illness) & rescuer cost       *UNLIMITED*
3. Illness death       *\30,000,000*
4. Liability       *100,000,000*

* No deductible payable on any benefits.
* A separate overseas travel insurance will be arranged for persons transferred to Chile. Such persons will only be covered for (1) and (3) under this overseas business travel insurance policy.
* This policy does not cover liability for car accidents. Travelers who are planning to use rental cars while traveling abroad are recommended to buy their own car insurance.
* If you need additional coverage, please buy your own private insurance.
* Identification of the time of occurrence of cause of illness, the onset time of illness, certification of an illness, and the time of commencement of medical treatment will be determined by a physician.
If the physician determines that the traveler had a pre-existing disease (existence of a medical history or chronic health condition) prior to the scheduled business trip, any medical condition arising out of pre-existing diseases will not be covered under this policy, regardless of whether or not the traveler was aware of such pre-existing disease.

3. Application procedures

Travel insurance will be arranged by the Employee Affairs Unit, General Affairs Group, NAOJ Administration Department (hereinafter "Employee Unit").

To apply, please register by sending the following details:
To first time person, or the person who do not registered, each office personnel or Employee Affairs Section staff asks you for the information. Please answer these promptly.
(First-time applicants: please note that the Employee Unit may ask you or to the administrative staff at your office to provide additional information)

*Please inform either the Employee Unit (shokuin_@_nao.ac.jp) or administrative staff at your office if there are any changes made to the above information.

(For business trips departing from Japan to a foreign country and returning to Japan)
About one week before your scheduled departure date, you will receive via email an OVERSEAS TRAVEL INSURANCE IDENTIFICATION CARD (hereinafter “Travel Insurance Card”).

(For business trips departing from a foreign country to Japan and returning to the country)
You will receive your travel insurance policy certificate number via email (Travel Insurance Card will not be issued).

If you do not receive any email at least one week before your scheduled departure, please contact the Employee Unit (shokuin_@_nao.ac.jp) or the administrative staff at your office to confirm the status of your application.
If you prefer not to be covered by NAOJ’s overseas travel insurance due to personal reasons, please inform your preferences to either the Employee Unit (shokuin_@_nao.ac.jp) or the administrative staff at your office.

4.Security precautions while traveling on business

We strongly advise you to print out and carry the Travel Insurance Card (or the email indicating the policy certificate number) and the document entitled "Receiving Medical Care at Medical Institutions" (booklet showing security precautions while traveling on business) that has been sent to you prior to your business trip.

5. Making changes to travel insurance policy (when re-scheduling/cancelling a trip)

Please inform the Employee Unit (shokuin_@_nao.ac.jp) or the administrative staff at your office immediately if you need to make any of the following changes:

*Please note that if (for whatever reason) you forget to provide current, accurate information, there may be cases where you will not be able to receive insurance proceeds, and/or you will not be able to receive (or extra time may be required before you can receive) services listed under the overseas travel insurance policy.

6. In case of illness/injury

In case of illness/injury, please contact the insurance company or the Employee Unit and provide the following information, and follow the instructions given by the person in charge:

  1. Name
  2. Certificate number
  3. Contact information
  4. State of illness/injury

Travelers must complete the overseas travel insurance claim form for making any claims. Please contact the Employee Unit through Japanese staff.


Contact/Inquiry on this matter:
Employee Affairs Unit, General Affairs Group, Administration Department
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
TEL:0422-34-3837        FAX:0422-34-3690
E-mail:shokuin_@_nao.ac.jp
[please replace "_@_" with "@" when sending an email]