# In hospital in Kyoto



## Martin MB

Hello! I am in England, but my son Alex is in Kyoto as a student at Doshisha university. Sadly, Alex is in hospital in Kyoto with a serious back injury and has had major surgery. Alex's Mum and brother have flown out to Kyoto to be with Alex at this difficult time. I am keen to contact any expats, particularly Brits with a good command of Japanese, living in the Kyoto area, who might be prepared to offer advice on living in Kyoto, health insurance and the Japanese medical system, or just general friendly support! Thanks in advance...


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## larabell

I notice that nobody has answered this one yet. I'm not a Brit, I don't live in Kyoto, and through the grace of God have never required hospitalization in Japan so I don't know how well insurance deals with that. But you certainly have my best wishes in these tough times.

I would assume your son was covered under Japanese health insurance. If so, at least that part of the ordeal should be less stressful. The Japanese health care system seems to be fairly efficient, most hospitals are fairly modern, and if you have insurance here it takes care of pretty much everything (except childbirth, which they don't consider to be a disease or injury). Of course, like I said, I've never really had to rely on the system for more than the occasional infections and viral attacks.

If you have any general questions, feel free to post them. Maybe someone closer to Kyoto will show up on the thread eventually to fill in the details. In the meantime, all the best to your son for a speedy and incident-free recovery.


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