Articles
Medical columns and educational content about mental health.
Navigating Care
Mental Health Care in Japan: The Complete Guide for Foreign Residents
How to see a psychiatrist in Japan: what insurance covers, booking without a referral, English-speaking options, medication rules, and where to start.
October 16, 2026
Does Japanese Health Insurance Cover Mental Health?
Yes: psychiatric care is covered by Japanese insurance at standard cost-sharing, and a national program can cut it further. What's covered and what isn't.
October 16, 2026
Do You Need a Referral to See a Psychiatrist in Japan?
No referral is needed to see a psychiatrist at a clinic in Japan. Where the myth comes from, the one hospital exception, and how to book directly.
October 16, 2026
Jiritsu Shien Iryo: The Mental Health Subsidy Almost No Foreigner Knows About
Jiritsu Shien Iryo cuts your share of psychiatric care costs from 30% to 10%. Who qualifies, how to apply at your ward office, and how renewal works.
October 16, 2026
How to Get a Medical Certificate (診断書) for Mental Health in Japan
How the shindansho works for mental health in Japan: when you need one, how to ask, what it says, why a doctor might decline, and English documents.
October 16, 2026
Taking Mental Health Leave in Japan: Kyushoku, Sickness Allowance, and Coming Back
How mental health leave works in Japan: the certificate that triggers it, the sickness allowance that protects your income, and how returning works.
October 16, 2026
Bringing Psychiatric Medication into Japan: Yakkan Shoumei (Import Certificate) and the Quantity Rules
Japan's import rules for psychiatric medication: the one-month rule, psychotropic quantity limits, the yakkan shoumei certificate, and what's banned.
October 16, 2026
Your First Visit to a Psychiatrist in Japan: What Actually Happens
What actually happens at a first psychiatric appointment in Japan: booking, what to bring, what the doctor asks, and how follow-ups work.
October 16, 2026
Same-Day Medical Certificates in Japan: When It's Possible and When It Isn't
When a doctor in Japan can issue a shindansho the same day, when the certificate has to wait, and why official benefit forms follow a slower track.
October 16, 2026
Why Are Psychiatric Appointments in Japan So Short?
Short follow-up visits are the standard structure of Japanese outpatient psychiatry, not bad care. Why, whether you just get pills, and how to prepare.
October 16, 2026
English Mental Health Resources in Japan: The Complete Directory
English mental health support in Japan: free crisis lines, public consultation windows, clinic search tools, free interpretation, and rules in English.
October 16, 2026
Conditions
Depression and Anxiety in Expats: Why It Happens and What to Do in Japan
Why moving abroad triggers depression and anxiety, how to tell homesickness from something clinical, and how to get English-speaking help in Japan.
October 16, 2026
Post-Japan Blues, May Disease, and Seasonal Low Mood in Japan
Post-Japan blues, May disease (gogatsubyo), and seasonal depression in Japan: what each term means and how to tell a passing dip from depression.
October 16, 2026
Panic Disorder: Getting Treatment in Tokyo
Panic disorder in Japan: what a panic attack is, why physical causes are checked first, how SSRIs and CBT are used, and English-speaking care in Tokyo.
October 16, 2026
Social Anxiety Disorder: How It Differs from Shyness and How It Is Treated in Japan
Social anxiety disorder explained: how it differs from shyness, how living in a second language affects it, and how it is treated in Japan in English.
October 16, 2026
Trauma and PTSD Treatment in Tokyo in English
PTSD and complex PTSD explained, why symptoms flare abroad, EMDR and trauma-focused CBT, and how to find English-speaking trauma care in Japan.
October 16, 2026
"Autonomic Nervous Disorder" (Jiritsu Shinkei Shitchosho): What This Japanese Diagnosis Actually Means
What Japanese doctors mean by jiritsu shinkei shitchosho (autonomic nervous disorder), how it maps onto English-language diagnoses, and what to ask next.
October 16, 2026
ADHD & Neurodevelopmental
ADHD in Japan: The Complete Guide for Foreign Residents
ADHD treatment in Japan: why foreign diagnoses must be re-confirmed, which medications are legal, the registration system, and the Concerta shortage.
October 16, 2026
How to Get an ADHD Diagnosis in Japan (Step by Step)
The adult ADHD diagnosis process in Japan: choosing a clinic, what the interviews cover, why childhood evidence matters, and how long it takes.
October 16, 2026
ADHD Medication in Japan: Your Options, the Registration System, and the Concerta Shortage
The four ADHD medications available in Japan, how the Concerta registration system works, where the shortage stands, and what the alternatives are.
October 16, 2026
Can You Bring ADHD Medication to Japan? Adderall, Vyvanse, Concerta and the Law
Adderall is banned in Japan with no permit. Vyvanse needs advance permission, Concerta has quantity rules. The legal categories and what to do instead.
October 16, 2026
ADHD in Women: Why It Gets Missed, and How Diagnosis Works in Japan
Why ADHD is missed in women, how the quieter symptoms look in adult life, and how diagnosis and treatment work for women in Japan, in English.
October 16, 2026
ADHD Testing in English in Tokyo: WAIS-IV, Rating Scales, and What to Expect
Adult ADHD testing in Tokyo in English: the WAIS-IV and rating scales, what they can and cannot show, the testing appointment, and what you get at the end.
October 16, 2026
Online Care
Online Psychiatry in Japan: The Complete Guide for English Speakers
How online psychiatry works in Japan: what telemedicine can and can't do, first visits vs follow-ups, prescriptions, insurance, and the hybrid model.
October 16, 2026
Japan's Online Psychiatry Rules: First Visits, Prescriptions, and the 2026 In-Person Requirement
Japan's telemedicine rules for mental health: what an online first visit can prescribe, which sleep and anxiety medicines need an in-person visit, and why.
October 16, 2026
Is Online Psychiatry Covered by Japanese Health Insurance?
Yes: insured online psychiatry runs through Japanese health insurance like in-person care. Coverage, non-insured extras, and the subsidy question.
October 16, 2026
Finding English-Speaking Mental Health Care Outside Tokyo
How to find English-speaking psychiatric care in Kansai, Kyushu, Tohoku and rural Japan: the official search tools, and how online care fills the gap.
October 16, 2026
Medication
Antidepressants in Japan: What's Available, What's Not, and How to Switch
Most Western antidepressants are available in Japan, but Prozac and Wellbutrin are not. Availability list, Japanese brand names, and how switching works.
October 16, 2026
Psychiatric Medication in Japan: What Is Available and How Prescribing Works
How psychiatric medication works in Japan: what's approved, how prescribing differs, pharmacy rules, and what to do if your medication doesn't exist here.
October 16, 2026
Sleeping Pills in Japan: Prescription, Over the Counter, and What Is Recommended First
Sleeping pills in Japan: the newer medicines recommended first, the older pills and their limits, what is sold without a prescription, and online rules.
October 16, 2026
Bipolar Medication and Pregnancy: How Lithium, Valproate, and Lamotrigine Differ
How the three mood stabilisers differ in pregnancy under Japanese rules, why stopping suddenly is risky, and how to plan ahead.
October 16, 2026
Stopping Antidepressants: Withdrawal and Tapering in Japan
Why stopping antidepressants suddenly backfires, which symptoms Japanese drug labels list, and how tapering is planned with your doctor in Japan.
October 16, 2026
Psychiatric Medication and Driving in Japan: What the Law and the Labels Actually Say
What Japan's Road Traffic Act says about driving on psychiatric medication, how drug labels differ, and how to plan with your doctor.
October 16, 2026
Medication Availability
Is My Medication Available in Japan? The Complete Table
Psychiatric medication availability in Japan: antidepressants, sleep aids, anxiety and ADHD medication, antipsychotics, and what replaces the gaps.
October 16, 2026
Why Can't You Buy Melatonin in Japan? (And What to Use Instead)
Melatonin is not sold over the counter in Japan. Why that is, what the import rules allow, and ramelteon, the medicine that acts on the same receptors.
October 16, 2026
Is Prozac Available in Japan?
Prozac (fluoxetine) is not approved in Japan. What the switch to an available SSRI looks like, and how to plan your move without a gap in care.
October 16, 2026
Wellbutrin Is Not Available in Japan: What Replaces It
Wellbutrin (bupropion) is not approved in Japan. What usually replaces it, based on what it was doing for you, what goes wrong, and how to time the switch.
October 16, 2026
Switching Patients Off Bupropion in Japan: A Guide for Prescribers
Bupropion is not approved in Japan. A prescriber guide to replacing it by indication (mood, fatigue, sexual side effects, ADHD, smoking) and the switch.
October 16, 2026
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