Psychiatry in Japan as it exists these days is the same as Western Psychiatry. All in all though, Mental Health Care in Japan is, in a word, not great.
Oriental Pearl is self-admittedly not fluent in Japanese. She has said that she can speak it well, but it’s still not that fluent. Her Mandarin is much better than Japanese given that she came to Japan only 2-3 years ago. For Japanese learning resources, MattvsJapan and Dogen are go-tos.
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Hey man, im also interested in that subject, since i am a doctor as well. Although I don’t really wish to live or work in Japan, since that would mean around 5 years of daily Japanese studying + leaving my friends and family behind and moving to a place i don’t really know how stuff works, and probably would need to save a lot of money to be able to sustain living there until somehow i managed to work as a doctor.
So, just to you know what my goals are, I study japanese mainly to be able to read manga, watch anime, understand songs etc. But I started studying it mainly because i was eager to learn another language, since I only know portuguese and english. I have never visited Japan, but i will in 2022.
I cannot help you too much with your doubts, since i don’t really know how it works to validate your degree… what i can tell you is (and you may already know that) that learning japanese takes a lot of time. To be somewhat fluent and to be actually able to talk with patients for more than 5min you would need to invest a LOT of time. Is almost impossible to be N1 or somewhat fluent in japanese within less than 3-5 years, and i mean that even if you plan to study 2-3h/day and and practice conversation with natives weekly, which in our line of duty is almost impossible to sustain.
Also, you may already know, but WK focus mainly on Kanji/Reading, so you will also need to invest a lot of time in Grammar / Listening / Talking / Writing. I have been studying japanese for around 100 days, and I actually spend more time studying Grammar than WK, and I can barely form sentences or understand basic conversation…
As for medicine, Im from Brazil, and I have studied 6 years in med school + 3 years of residence in pediatrics (im in my last year), but I have no real hope to ever practice medicine in Japan, since almost every single country makes it really hard to validate your degree, and, from what i have been told, Japan is no different. But since i don’t really know anything for sure, i hope someone in this forum can help clarify that for us 
Ill be sure to follow you in your progress! がんばって!
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Good luck in your journey! Following this! 
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Psychiatrist is one of few jobs that are really interesting in my view, since u get a better understanding of humanity, which is underrated by everyone. I expect an increased need for them in the future aswell, because of covid, digitalisation, increasing failure in parenting, aging problem, increasing shelfawarness . Don´t let your decisions go until its necessary. Good luck in ur future.
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More people need to think about all the shelves that are sad and unused.
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Fluent is subjective, more or less I was referring to her ideology since, as you said she’s “fluent” in a langauge as hard as Japanese. Also she may not be “fluent” in her own terms, but she’s lived in the country for a few years on top of langauge school, like you say she can speak it well, that’s all most people can dream to achieve. Therefor since fluent is a subjective term I think she’s surpassed fluent… Does she have to be on the native speaking level to be fluent? I don’t think we’d call that a 2nd langauge anymore, where does “fluency” end for her? When she’s able to carry on convo’s about the meaning of life, or is it when she writes her disertation for Japnese law school? She’d have 3 first langauges at that point lol.
I agree, but for people like us learning Japanese It is still a useful measure of language learning ability. N1 may not be comparable to other langauge test, but it’s nothing to overlook in terms of knowledge either (don’t wanna bash it). A person who has the N1 has incredible Japanese grammar, listening, and reading comprehension. They are only missing the speaking ability (and writing if its desirable). You put a person with the N1 in an immersive environment and they’d be on there way to speaking in no time i’d imagine. That’s probably the ideology behind the credibility the test has now. Japanese is hard (captain obvious), I’d be so proud of myself if i could even achieve N1 in 2 years,and despite that it still took another 2 years for me to develop top tier speaking abilities.
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I’ve read through a few of the replies, and I’m shocked to hear some people tell you that your dream is too hard or impossible. I think what they are really communicating is that they feel that they couldn’t do it themselves, which has nothing to do with your capabilities.
From my perspective, Japan needs more psychiatrists that speak both English and Japanese. I was reading last year that there are few psychologist options for expats in Tokyo, and that one of the psychologists there has been terrible (and maybe even a scam). So the more people who want to work in Japan as a psychologist the better. I know you want to see Japanese people as well, and I think you may find success easier than you expect there. Some Japanese people may find it interesting to seek out a “western” psychologist and get a perspective different than their own culture.
I recommend you find a good tutor or teacher now and start working with them to set goals and achieve them. iTalki is a great resource there, but so are local tutors and also there are many other online platforms. Good luck!
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wise words 
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Who said anything like that? Who said it was impossible?
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On a neurological level, first languages and second languages aren’t the same. Basically, unless you are natively bi or trilingual, you can not have more than one “first language”, a second language is always a second language. Also “fluent” and “native” are not the same.
Oooh… Please keep in mind while watching that show is full of historical inaccuracies. They altered it to make it more interesting especially costumes and love affairs.
Yes , I do want. And yes I have never been there unfortunately. My father and sister went couple years ago and I was supposed to go this year… well you know Covid happened. I am aware that Japan is different from what we see outside( for example technology wise I would have expected everything is more digital but it’s not) Still I want to experience to live there and I know there are other ways like I can work there as teacher or something else it may sound weird but I don’t wanna lose more years. I want to be able to do my work and achieving my goal at the same time. Before that I’ll try to go as an observer or researcher when I got in my residency. Thank you very much for your advice and kind words
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@Edzin Thank you very much. Nice meeting a colleague. Pediatrics though?? I wish you patience 
There are a few divisions that I think I really can’t do which btw Pediatrics and Obgyn are taking the lead.
Well, with Covid going on I’m not planning near future. At worst case scenario I’ll finish my residency(4 years for psychiatry in Turkey) and then I’ll try to go to Japan which means minimum 4-5 years. Best case scenario I’ll manage to arrange an observer-ship or a clerkship while in my residency and have a beforehand experience.Hopefully Psychiatry residency will not as harsh as Surgical residencies with night shifts and extra hours but it also depends on your 'senpai’s and 'sensei’s. About the Japanese studying after I gain some base level I may take an online language course or a few lessons to determine my path.
@eainge Thank you for the support! I know people didn’t mean to discourage me and I don’t think it’s impossible. I know it is gonna be hard and I am definitely accepting the challenge. I am thinking a tutor might help me with the goals but first I’ll try to get a grip by myself.
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I would get the Lifetime subscription if I were you. Then you can take your time when life happens. My pace is slow but steady, and I am enjoying it.
Hello hello,
Come on over to Japan. I’d like to be one of your first patients. Hopefully we can even talk in Japanese!!
lmao gl. I’m not gonna say it’s impossible. I am gonna say that the field has a ton of competition and not many firms would hire a foreigner if given the choice unless your specialty is treating foreign patients. It’s not as much a matter of fluency as it is penetrating an extremely homogenous and isolationist culture. No matter how much Japanese you know you will always be a foreigner.
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I didn’t read through every reply but it looks like nobody mentioned finding different ways to achieve your dream? These types of things require a lot of flexibility to make them work so maybe you should look for other ways to use your skills in Japan, outside of traditional psychiatry jobs.
For example this article discusses an organization called IMHPJ that brings together psychiatrists in Japan to work with the international community there - however supposedly several of the therapists involved are native Japanese. These types of opportunities could give you a chance to still use Japanese with colleagues without the burden of using it with patients. You may even be able to contact a member of the group now and get advice.
I’m a healthcare worker with similar goals so just remember to be flexible and be resilient, your dreams may not arrive in the package you expect!
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@Shinshya I am actually waiting for the next sale until then annual subscription it is.
@Nemuitanuki I would love to do that but hopefully you don’t/won’t actually need a psychiatrist, we can still chat though
@American_Saikou yeah of course I’ll be a foreigner but I think, like every other job, if you are good people will eventually trust and respect you enough to seek for your help.
@mikki_desu Thank you for the suggestion, I’ll definitely send them an email. Until I actually and hopefully work as a psychiatrist I’ll try to consider every opportunity I come across.
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