Forum Report

On March 18, 2016, Re-examining Japan in Global Context's ninth seminar took place at St. Antony's College at the University of Oxford. This seminar was held as a joint project of the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies and the Suntory Foundation. The theme of the event was "Future Challenges for Medical Care From a Comparative Perspective."

The first presentation was given by Dr. Naonori Kodate, Lecturer in Social Policy at the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice at University College Dublin. In his presentation, "Challenges Facing the Japanese Healthcare System: A Comparative Perspective," Dr. Kodate compared and contrasted maternal healthcare services in Ireland and Japan and illustrated the importance of examining healthcare challenges from a broader "societal" perspective.

The second presentation, by Dr. James Tiessen, was titled "Lost in (Knowledge) Translation? Mutual Learning and Japanese Health and Long-Term Care Practices." Dr. Tiessen, Associate Professor and Director of the School of Health Services Management at Ryerson University, offered a detailed review of the comparative healthcare literature that includes Japan and illustrated the relative lack of communication between researchers in Japan and elsewhere.