Sorry for the length of time between posts, but I got 病気(びょうき/sick) last week and then family stuff arose. I decided to write a little bit about being sick and going to 病院 (びょういん/hospitals) in Japan (note the repeated use of 病 for both sickness and hospital). Since it is a modern country, being ill is not a big deal.

First of all, Japan has a lot of 病院 and クリニック (clinics). Seriously, walk down any block, on any 道 (みち/street) in any reasonably sized city and you will probably pass by at least one クリニック or 病院. Most クリニック specialize in different areas of medicine, like ear/nose/throat, digestive issues, skin problems, etc… which might be why there are so many around. 病院 are more generic, but they vary in size from 大きい (おおきい/big) down to clinic-sized.

Once you pick a place to go to, you are always given a questionnaire and a thermometer to see if you have a 熱 (ねつ/fever) before you see the 先生 (せんせい/doctor). “Do you have a fever?” seems to be the first question everyone asks, both 先生 and 家族 (かぞく/family) alike.

Medical care is cheap in Japan. Almost  everyone has one of two types of health insurance (it’s required by law), which covers 70-80% of the costs. The first is called 社会保険 (しゃかいほけん), loosely translated as “Social Insurance”. The average full-time employee will have this. The second is called 国民健康保険 (こくみんけんこうほけん) translated to National Health Insurance, which everyone else will use. The costs for most procedures are low, and doctors will often make use of every tool available. An xray costs next to nothing and other scans are surprisingly cheap too, so doctors will often do a scan, just in case.

お大事に! (おだいじに/Take Care)