The establishment of the Japan Medical Support System for Visitors from Abroad dates back to 2016. With the Tokyo 2020 just round the corner, it was expected that the number of visitors to Japan would exceed 60 million.

  As the number of visitors increases, so would the number of people who might need unexpected medical care for injuries or illness during their stay.

Our goal, therefore, was set to provide such visitors with easier access to medical facilities at any time and anywhere. Japan is known world-wide for its safety, security, and cleanliness, and, in view of widening globalization, we thought that, if we could convey that almost universal understanding of Japan, we could at the same time give assurance to the overseas visitors on providing any necessary medical care in any given situations. This we believe would also further contribute to strengthening a better image of Japan.

  For the past two years, however, the world has been thrown into the disastrous turmoil. The Tokyo 2020 has been postponed for a year, and has now been held without spectators. Naturally, the number of visitors to Japan plummeted. This automatically leads to the question: What have the past two years of our Support System meant? We are bound to a serious self reflection.

  We believe that there are two viewpoints to “internationalization.” One is to be willing to accept overseas visitors with maximum readiness if and when they come, and the other is to exercise effort to encourage foreigners to come to Japan. If the former is described as a passive attitude, the latter can be termed proactive. It should be emphasized that the same thing can be said of medical care.

  In addition to the linguistic and cultural differences existing between Japan and the countries of the world, it should be noted that there are unique institutional characteristics in Japan. Our goal lies, therefore, in providing sincere support not only to tourists but also to those who come to Japan believing in the kind of medical care they could not receive in their countries.

  It would become possible in this way to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings or problems that may arise between them and the receiving medical institutions. In this regard, our mission stands to extend to the world necessary information and support for the realization of this purpose. We are determined to continue to communicate the excellence of the Japanese medical care to the world community.