Online booking for veterinary clinics
English-speaking vets are scarce in Japan and owners search for exactly that. The hard part is not getting found — it is stopping consultations from eating the day.
A 15-minute consultation and a 30-minute first visit or vaccination, capped per day so surgery time survives, plus a separate long event type for travel paperwork.
Three appointment kinds, one diary#
Consultations, vaccinations and surgery have nothing in common except the room they happen in. Without separate lengths and caps, the morning fills with fifteen-minute consultations and the surgery list slips to the afternoon, every day.
Emergencies then arrive on top, and there is no slack left to absorb them.
The setup to start from#
Consultations, vaccinations and surgery in the same diary, with emergencies arriving on top and needing to be fitted in.
| Duration | 15 minutes for a consultation, 30 for a first visit or vaccination |
|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 2 hours |
| Buffer | 5 minutes after, to clean the table |
| Max bookings per day | Cap consultations so surgery time survives the morning |
| Location | In person |
| Payment | Paid in person — the amount depends on what is found |
| Cancellation policy | Not applicable |
Worth asking on the booking form: Species, breed and age · What is the problem? · Vaccination history · First visit?
English-speaking vets are genuinely scarce here and owners search for exactly that. Import and export paperwork for pets leaving or entering Japan is a long appointment of its own, with strict timing — give it its own event type and say so.
Cap consultations so surgery survives#
Set Max bookings per day on the consultation event type. Once it is reached, consultations stop being offered and the rest of your day stays yours.
Pet import and export deserves its own appointment#
Taking an animal in or out of Japan involves microchipping, rabies titre tests and a strict timetable that starts months ahead. It is a long, high-value appointment and it is what foreign owners search for. Give it its own event type, with the documents and the timeline in the description.
Ask for the history before they arrive#
Species, breed, age, vaccination history, and what is wrong. Four questions on the booking form and the consulting room starts the conversation already informed.
Getting started#
- Sign in at app.marubox.jp with Google or Microsoft. There is no card and no trial clock.
- Create an event type with the settings above. Event types explained
- Connect your calendar so the clinic never gets double booked. Google · Outlook
- Set your real hours, and close Japanese public holidays in one tick. Availability
- Put the link in your bio, or the widget on your site. Adding it to your website
Common questions
How do we keep consultations from filling the surgery list?
Set Max bookings per day on the consultation event type and give surgery its own hours in a separate availability schedule. Consultations stop at the cap.
Can owners book in English?
Yes, and it is the reason many will choose you. Write appointment names and descriptions in English and Japanese, and each owner sees their own language.
How do we handle emergencies?
Keep a short minimum notice on the consultation event type — two hours works — so genuinely urgent cases can still book, and leave some capacity unbooked by capping the day below your theoretical maximum.
Set this up in about ten minutes
Business Box is free for as long as you like, with no card required — booking pages, Google and Outlook calendar sync, availability, Japanese public holidays and the website widget. Taking card payment for bookings is ¥1,200 a month, tax included, with no commission on what you sell.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026.