Comments on: Experiencing Japanese Healthcare from the Inside

By: Nrwler

Nrwler — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

I have heard enough horrorstories about healthcare. Japan is very modern, but about such a routine health check i am very disaponted ^^
I heard the japenese drink more and more milk todays…
TB, BSE tests and so on should be in their standart-check xD

By: j-ster

j-ster — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Heh, i was going to mention that tuberculosis wasnt as unusual as you might think in Japan, and provide a link to MisSin’s blog… It was funny to scroll down and then see that she was the furst commenter, but then that comment was perhaps before her man’s TB diagnosis, since she didnt mention it…?

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Yea… I didn’t get to experience the whole wacky Engrish hijinx thing, as it was pretty clearly indicated to me by phone that Japanese-speaking wasn’t optional.

Also I’m sure you’ll know of what I mean when I say that the desk-attending nurse literrally *resumed breathing* only upon my somewhat positive answer to the worriedly-asked question: “Japanese OK?”…

But despite my initial worries, the language part went perfectly smooth, in no small part I think thanks to the utter absence of any remotely technical interaction: “look at the bright spot over there”, “push that button”, “please stand there” (and perhaps “there is something wrong, can I talk to the adult in charge of your person”) is really the full extent of what one needs to know to successfully breeze through a Japanese hospital visit.

By: MissSin

MissSin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

As a user of JHI for the last 11+ years, i can honestly say i haven’t had any nasty experiences. I wouldn’t describe my experiences as pleasant - but then again, when is a visit to the doctor EVER pleasant?
Have had some bizarre experiences though…
The first one involved me with toncilitis (how the hell do you spell it?) and the doctor telling me in his broekn english not to take a bus. Took me 2 days to work out he meant ‘bath’ (in those 2 days i convinced myself that i was highly contagious & couldn’t go in crowded buses…)
The bizarrest moment though, goes to my ex-gynaecologist. During my routine ‘bits check’, she told me that i had very healthy eggs & asked me if i would like a photo of them. WTF???? What on earth would i do with a photo of my eggs? Scare away potential boyfriends? (”Hey, i have healthy eggs; want to fertilise them?”)

But yeah, while not the best in the world for openess & privacy, Japan definitely isn’t the worst place for health care.