Health Care in Japan

Health care professionals in Japan are trained to an excellent standard, and generally speaking the level of care you can expect to receive at any of the main hospitals or clinics in Japan will rival that of any first world or Western nation.

The entire health care service is funded via a health insurance system that was first introduced in 1961 and which was running very successfully for many years.  It has only been in recent years that the system has needed major reforms and this has been as a direct result of the spiralling costs of looking after an ageing nation.

Stringent financial reforms began in 1997 and so far they are proving fairly successful and mean that the quality, standard and availability of health care in Japan is currently being maintained.  If you’re a foreign citizen relocating to Japan for employment for example, your employer may well deal with your health insurance for you.  It’s important to ensure you have cover and it might be wise to look at the cost and cover of an international health care plan especially if you’re planning on relocating again, travelling or even returning home every once in a while.

Every single resident in Japan is a member of a health insurance plan which covers all major medical expenses.  The system as a whole operates very differently to that of the UK health care system but is similar to the system in Germany for example.  You do not have to register with a general practitioner and ‘use’ him or her as your gateway to further health services; rather you approach any medical facility or specialist practitioner directly when you require their services.

Of course, there are general practitioners available for the treatment of day to day illnesses and for initial diagnosis of unknown ills.  Many of the older doctors in Japan have a conservative view of medicine, treatment and communication and will be expected to be treated with respect.  It is very difficult therefore to ask for a second opinion in Japan if you are unhappy with the initial diagnosis!

Doctors also expect to be treated as a parent figure, an advisory, and for the patient to respect their decisions unquestioningly!  It is not uncommon for diagnosis and treatment information to be automatically withheld from a patient if it is not deemed ‘necessary’ to inform them!  This can be quite strange for many western individuals to deal with as they see a medical practitioner more as a service provider.

As is very common among the more learned professionals in Japan, many health care professionals have an excellent command of the English language but some may prefer to discuss the intricacies of any complicated treatment for example, through the medium of Japanese to ensure they express themselves entirely accurately.  If you find yourself in need of specialist medical treatment when living in Japan and yet your Japanese is not up to scratch, consider taking a Japanese friend with you to translate...unless of course you’re suffering from something particularly embarrassing - in which case take a dictionary!

Any differences in what a patient expects from a doctor and vice versa can easily be smoothed out as a relationship builds over time, furthermore, once you’ve been living in Japan for some time you come to understand and expect certain formalities to be observed in business or non-social situations anyway.  The main points to bear in mind are the facts that health care is freely available for all, the standard of care and treatment is high and the level to which doctors and other health care professionals are trained is exceptional.

Further Working Abroad Guides Articles

Share this article with others.