This is something I wrote several years ago upon a request. Unfortunately, it was never used. I post it here as it might be of somebody\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n
Q. What is the legal requirement for practicing acupuncture in Japan?<\/em><\/p>\n A. One must graduate from 3 year vocational school or 4 year college. Licenses are granted to those who finish the required college courses and pass the national examinations.<\/p>\n Q. How many acupuncturists are there and how many of those have what level\/type of training?<\/em><\/p>\n A. As of year 2013, there are 159607 registered acupuncturists (over 10000 working acupuncturists). The required college courses are at least 2865 hours in total and cover both Western and Eastern medicine.<\/p>\n Q. Is acupuncture being accepted in aspects of that nation\u2019s mainstream medical system? If so, how?<\/em><\/p>\n A. No. Although the national healthcare system does cover acupuncture treatments for limited conditions, its usage is nowhere near the mainstream medical system. 6 conditions covered by the national healthcare are any kinds of neuralgia, cervicobrachial syndrome, frozen shoulder, rheumatism (mainly rheumatoid arthritis), chronic low back pain, and aftereffect of cervical sprain (mainly whiplash). Doctor\u2019s agreement document is required prior to an acupuncture treatment. The healthcare covers 70 \u2013 100% of 1520 yen. Acupuncture is practiced in some hospitals and clinics, but mostly not as a mainstream medical treatment.<\/p>\n Q. Are there any statistics\/estimates regarding how many people have used acupuncture or what percentage of the population? If so, by what provider types and for what conditions?<\/em><\/p>\n A. Yes. The 2014 survey* shows only 4.9% of population received acupuncture treatments, and this figure is dropping every year.<\/p>\n Q. Are there active acupuncture related organizations such as membership organizations and, if so, what are their membership requirements and how many members or what percentage of practitioners are members?<\/em><\/p>\n A. Yes.<\/p>\n There are two main associations for acupuncturists.<\/p>\n There is a large society for acupuncturists;<\/p>\n And a large society for MDs and other medical professions including acupuncturists.<\/p>\n There are many smaller associations and societies such as Japan Traditional Acupuncture and Moxibustion Society (JTAMS), Japan Traditional Chinese Medicine Association (JTCMA), Toyo Hari Medical Association, Shakuju Association, Japan\u00a0Meridian<\/em>\u00a0Therapy Association<\/em>, <\/em>Japan Society of Ryodoraku Medicine, and so on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To be continued.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is something I wrote several years ago upon a request. Unfortunately, it was never used. I post it here as it might be of somebody\u2019s interest. Q. What is the legal requirement for practicing acupuncture in Japan? A. One…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acupuncture","tag-japanese"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n
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