

Choosing Not to Turn Ambulances Away
OneVoice OneAction Yudai Kaneda Tokiwa Hospital, Tokiwakai FoundationJunior Resident Young healthcare professionals are working energetically in communities across Japan. Where do the actions of these young people racing toward the future come from, and where are they headed? This series records the thoughts behind their work. Fewer Difficult-to-Place Emergency Cases in Iwaki “Iwaki Introduces New Holiday and Nighttime Rotation System, Cutting Difficult-to-Place Emergency Cas
21 hours ago


Clinical Peer Review and Resistance to Scrutiny
Tetsuya Tanimoto, M.D. Medical Governance Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan Maintaining quality in a diverse medical workforce I am an internist, thirty years out of medical school, and help run a group of primary care clinics employing several dozen physicians. Their backgrounds and working arrangements vary considerably. Some have only recently graduated; others are serving university professors or senior clinicians who spent many years heading departments at major hospitals
Oct 2


The Story of “You” and “Me,” Society’s Smallest Units
Masamichi Harada Third-year student School of Law, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo Society is constantly changing through each and every one of us. That is precisely why legal education is not about distant social issues; it is also about considering how “you” and “I” can live better lives. I sincerely hope that this class will give high school students an opportunity to think about law and society as matters that concern them personally. I am a
Sep 26


All 82 Universities: Names and Amounts Revealed for Pharmaceutical Payments to Hospital Directors and Medical School Deans
The top 10 recipients, including Hironori Sagara, Director of Showa Medical University Hospital, received more than ¥100 million in total, highlighting the concentration of pharmaceutical payments among senior medical leaders. Akihiko Ozaki, M.D., Ph.D. Physician at the Medical Governance Research Institute Chiba University Hospital, where Koutaro Yokote, a high-value recipient, previously served (from the hospital introduction video) This magazine has previously covered, on
Sep 21


Why Nearly 90% of Physicians Would Refuse Life-Prolonging Treatment for Themselves: What a Survey Reveals About the Reality of End-of-Life Care
Doctors Admit the Truth Behind Aggressive End-of-Life Treatment: “Some Interventions May Offer Little Meaningful Benefit” Tetsuya Tanimoto, MD. Chairman of Accessible Railway Medical Services Tetsuikai Medical Corporation. Director of Navitas Clinic Kawasaki Record-High Death Toll Since World War II According to population estimates released by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the number of people aged 75 and older reached approximately 21 million by
Sep 12


NOT ONLY DIABETES AND OBESITY! The Potential Cancer-Preventive Effects Expected from GLP-1 Receptor Agonists
Masahiro Kami, M.D., Ph.D. President, Medical Governance Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan Table of Contents Lowering Blood Glucose and Reducing Body Weight GLP-1 Drugs Suppress Chronic Inflammation and Reduce Cancer Risk Obesity-Related Cancer Risk Reduced by 40% Through Factors Beyond Weight Loss Diet and Exercise Therapy Are Important, But… I would like to write once again about GLP-1 receptor agonists—the drugs that have been in the spotlight as so-called “weight-loss dr
Sep 4


Hidden Dehydration: Are You Losing Focus in the Heat? By the Time You Feel Thirsty, Dehydration May Already Be Underway
Kana Yamamoto, M.D., Ph.D Physician, Medical Governance Research Institute In her regular column “A Little Medical Notebook,” where she discusses everyday topics and news from a medical and health perspective, Dr. Kana Yamamoto, an internist at Navitas Clinic and the Medical Governance Research Institute, examines the issue of “hidden dehydration.” When people hear the word “dehydration,” many think of older adults or infants. However, active, healthy young people who are c
Aug 31


Sharp-Minded Even in Their 80s: What Is a “SuperAger,” the Kind of Person Everyone Aspires to Be?
Mutsuko Ohnishi, MD, Internal medicine physician in Boston, USA Contents 1. What Is a SuperAger? 2. What Happens in the Brain? 3. Can New Neurons Be Generated in the Adult Brain? 4. What Did the Researchers Investigate? 5. New Neurons Can Develop Even in the Adult Brain 6. What Happens in the Brain of a Person with Alzheimer’s Disease? 7. Four Habits Shared by SuperAgers8. It Is Never Too Late to Improve Your Lifestyle “It seems I’ve become so forgetful lately. I guess it
Aug 27


Living with Panic Attacks: A Physician’s Personal Reflection
Kana Yamamoto, M.D., Ph.D Physician, Medical Governance Research Institute The “Imitecho (Medical Examination Notebook)” column features reflections by a physician on health and everyday life. In this installment, Dr. Kana Yamamoto, a physician at Navitas Clinic and the Medical Governance Research Institute, reflects on panic attacks from both a professional and personal perspective. Shortly after I moved to the United States, I was constantly confused by small, everyday sit
Aug 15


Tsubokura-sensei’s Radiation Classroom #559:Driving Change by Incorporating Women’s Voices
Masaharu Tsubokura, M.D., Ph.D. Chief Professor, Department of Radiation Health Management, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, the way evacuation shelters are organized has undergone significant review. During this process, many accounts of the inconveniences and anxieties experienced by women were recorded, serving a
Aug 9


Looking Beyond Systems to See the Individual
Keita Shimizu, 2nd-year student, Science Class III, The University of Tokyo Lessons from the Front Lines That Systems Alone Cannot Teach Imagine a child with limited mobility racing a wheelchair around a relatively small room. Most people would probably react in a familiar way. They might think, "If the child crashes, it could be dangerous," or "There are other children in the room. Someone could get hurt." Yet in the setting I visited, that conventional way of thinking simpl
Aug 2


An American doctor spent time in a small isolation room in Prague
Hisanori Murasawa, 5th-year Student, General Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University On May 21, I was going daily between the university's affiliated hospital for surgical rotations. After lectures and practical exercises held during the day, I had studied with classmates to prepare for the last final exam of the year. Amidst all this, there was a moment when everyone's hands paused. This is because news broke that an American doctor suspected of being infecte
Jul 24


Reflections on Home-Based End-of-Life Care in an Aging Society
OneVoice OneAction Across the nation, young physicians are bringing a new energy to the field. What sparks their resolve, and where is their journey leading them? Here, we pause to capture the heart and soul behind their mission. Makoto Kosaka, M.D., Physician, Orange Home Care Clinic; currently Director, Kokoiruyo Clinic (“I’m Here With You” Clinic) Feeling the Pulse of Our Aging Society in Home Care I am currently in my fourth year as a physician, working at the Orange
Jul 19


Observing "Home Medical Treatment Innovations" that are rooted in the local community
Akihiko Ozaki, M.D., Ph.D. Physician at the Medical Governance Research Institute Visit to the Higashi Osaka Clinic On September 6th, I visited Okamoto Internal Medicine Clinic in Higashiosaka City. The clinic's director, Dr. Masayuki Okamoto, graduated from Nada High School and went on to Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine. After working at his alma mater, he opened a clinic in his hometown of Higashi-Osaka. Dr. Okamoto was a senior at high school of Dr. Masahiro Kam
Jul 11


Organizational challenges when harassment occurs in Japanese universities
Taichi Akutsu, Ph.D. Violinist and Researcher in Music Education Akihiko Ozaki, M.D., Ph.D. Physician at the Medical Governance Research Institute Abstract This paper examines the organizational challenges that arise during the initial response to harassment at public universities in Japan, with particular attention to the stage before a formal investigation is launched. Drawing on publicly available harassment regulations and guidelines together with a hypothetical case of
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