Health insurance - traveling before settling

I will be moving to Kyoto this August, but actually will be arriving in Japan in July, and traveling for a few weeks in Hokkaido/Tohoku before settling down in Kyoto. Since I won't be able to sign up for National Health Insurance until I get to Kyoto, will I be covered while traveling? Or is there a way to sign up for it as soon as I arrive in Japan (Sapporo)? From what I've read, it seems like I'll technically be covered by NHI during the travel time -- I just have to pay in full if I encounter any medical expenses, then get reimbursed later after I sign up for NHI. Is this correct?

What is your residential status going to be while travelling?

What is your residential status going to be while travelling?

Probably student or work; it is immaterial here.

As far as I know, I don�ft think you�fd be reimbursed for the payment if you sign up later.

If I were you, I would probably sign up for travel insurance before you leave your home country to cover you during the time you will be traveling, then when you settle in Kyoto go sign up for the NHI.

Or maybe you will have a resident status already that you might be eligible, but signing up once in Sapporo (your address there?) and then the card arrives, then soon afterwards you will have to do a move-out procedure (from Sapporo, if you have an address), and move-in in Kyoto, which sounds just a bit cumbersome during travels.

My husband will be there on a Professor visa, and my kids and I will be there on dependent visas. So this question is actually on behalf of my whole family. We won't have an address in Sapporo; we will just be entering the country there, then traveling around Hokkaido and Tohoku for a few weeks before getting to Kyoto, which is where we'll actually be living. I don't think we'd be able to sign up for NHI on Sapporo unless we have an actual address there....? (Or could we sign up in Sapporo using our Kyoto address?)

Does travel insurance work? From what I've read, many of the doctors/clinics don't accept travel insurance.

Travelers insurance is the type you pay in full and get reimbursed later, I believe.

By the way, are you sure you will enroll in the NHI? If your husband will be employed, he should get his health insurance through his employer, and your whole family would be covered under it as dependents.