Japanese Psychiatry Research Articles

Morals, suicide, and psychiatry: a view from Japan.

In this paper, I argue that within the Japanese social context, the act of suicide is a positive moral act because the values underpinning it are directly related to a socially pervasive moral belief that any act of self-sacrifice is a worthy pursuit. The philosophical basis for this view of the self and its relation to society goes back to the writings of Confucius who advocated a life of propriety in which being dutiful, obedient, and loyal to one's group takes precedence over the desires of the individual selves that make up the group. I argue that this philosophical perspective poses formidable challenges to Japanese psychiatry (which accepts a contrary western perspective) because, as western psychiatry is based on the concept of autonomous individuality, the Japanese conceive of the self as socially embedded. Because suicide in Japan is viewed as a potentially honorable, virtuous, and even beautiful act of self-sacrifice expressing one's duty to one's group, the western perspective is quite foreign to the Japanese self-conceptual framework. Therefore, since Japanese psychiatry and law have embraced the western medical tradition of viewing suicide as a non-rational response to mental illness, which runs counter to the cultural view that suicide is a moral (and rational) act, I argue that western explanations of suicide present significant cross-cultural problems for Japanese psychiatry.

Japanese psychiatry in the Edo period (1600-1868)

Japanese psychiatry in the Edo period (1600-1868)

Are the cochrane group registers comprehensive? A case study of Japanese psychiatry trials.

BackgroundLanguage bias is a form of publication bias and constitutes a serious threat to meta-analyses. The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register is one attempt to remedy this and now contains more than 300,000 citations. However we are still unsure if it provides comprehensive coverage, particularly for non-English trials.MethodsWe have recently established a comprehensive register of Japanese trials of psychotropic drugs through extensive personal contacts, electronic searches and handsearches. We examined two Cochrane psychiatry group registers against this Japanese database.ResultsThe Japanese register contained 56 reports of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of antidepressants for depression but the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis group register contained 18, with an overlap of only nine. The Japanese register contained 61 reports of RCTs of neuroleptics for schizophrenia and the Cochrane Schizophrenia group register contained 36, with an overlap of only six. Taking account of some duplicate publications, only a quarter to a third of all relevant Japanese RCTs were retrievable from the Cochrane group registers.ConclusionsSimilar, or worse, yields may be expected with RCTs conducted in other East Asian countries, and in other fields of medicine. What evidence there is suggests that this situation may lead to a systematic over estimate of treatment effect.

Are the Cochrane group registers reasonably comprehensive? A case study of Japanese psychiatry trials

Are the Cochrane group registers reasonably comprehensive? A case study of Japanese psychiatry trials

Pathways through the border of biomedicine and traditional chinese medicine: a meeting of medical systems in a Japanese psychiatry department.

This article examines a meeting of biomedicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the context of a psychiatry department in a Japanese national medical school. The meeting is explored through stories of four individuals, the professor of the department and three Chinese physicians studying as exchange students. Global structures of medical authority are revealed in the way each participant follows a different trajectory through this space, positioning themselves by virtue of the medical epistemologies they embody. The particular geography of this meeting between systems allowed for a productive synthesis of diagnostic techniques, quite different from the more common therapeutic syntheses. This synthesis is particularly important for contemporary psychiatry because of its ability to attend to dimensional as opposed to categorical aspects of mental health.

戦前の精神病学における「精神薄弱」概念の理論史研究

戦前の精神病学における「精神薄弱」概念の理論史研究

An anecdote in the dawn of Japanese psychiatry: the tragedy of Dr. Noboru Ishida.

This is a historical review of the tragic life of a psychiatrist in the dawn of Japanese psychiatry, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder by an American court and imprisoned in America. The purpose of this article is firstly to clarify the strange circumstances under which he was sentenced guilty in spite of his psychosis. In the author's opinion there appeared to be an incorrectness and injustice of the judicial decision in the American court from consideration to the documents of his trial. Secondly, the author would like to acknowledge Dr. Ishida's pioneering contributions of the Japanese psychiatry which, because of the circumstances, have been long buried in the history of Japanese psychiatry.

The Rise and Fall of Neurasthenia in Japanese Psychiatry

The history of the theory and treatment of neurosis in modem Japanese psychiatry began with the exploration of the concept of neurasthenia, introduced through German psychiatry and French neurology. An original perspective on the diagnosis and treatment of neuras thenia was developed by Morita who founded Morita Therapy. Neurasthenia gradually came to be discussed in relation to Morita's concept of shinkeishitsu. Since World War II, the term neurosis has replaced neuras thenia. At the present time in Japan, neurasthenia is used with only a limited and narrow meaning. Clinical data in Japan show an increase in neurasthenia during World War II and a decrease after the war. In its place, there has been an increase in obsessive-compulsive and phobic symptoms. This rise and fall of neurasthenia can be related to changes in the theory of neurosis along with changing sociocultural conditions.

Kochi: Recent topics in psychiatry and mental health in Japan

We intend to discuss recent developments in Japanese psychiatry and matters of major concern, i.e., psychiatric services following the amendment of Japan's Mental Health Law, schizophrenia, dementia and culture-specific problems to Japan.

The history of Japanese psychiatry and the rights of mental patients

In ancient Japan, written characters and religions were largely based on Chinese cultures. The first foreign physician was invited from Korea to Japan during the Shiragi Dynasty, when an Emperor became ill at the beginning of the 5th century. Since then, Chinese medicine dominated in Japan until Western medicine was introduced in the middle of the 19th century.

Developments in the Care of ‘New’ Long‐Stay Inpatients in the United Kingdom–Implications for Japanese Psychiatry

The English "ward-in-a-house" for new long-stay patients (NLS) is described. NLS are usually defined as (a) aged between 18 and 65, (b) continuously in hospital for between 1 and 5 years, and (c) individuals for whom it has not been possible to find alternative accommodation outside hospital, despite repeated attempts to do so. The "ward-in-a-house" combines the best features of high quality hospital care with the best features of community-based residential units. The "Koike-dormitory" which was set up more than 20 years ago in Maebashi city had many of the characteristics of the English "ward-in-a-house" and this is also described. The possibility of developing a "ward-in-a-house" in Japan is then discussed.

Japanese psychiatry

Japanese psychiatry

Japanese psychiatry

Japanese psychiatry

Japanese psychiatry: Hospital reforms under way

Japanese psychiatry: Hospital reforms under way

Abuse for visiting scientists.

In recent years the field of Japanese psychiatry has been troubled by dissension and occasional violence. The disruption in April 1985 of a professional congress by "anti-psychiatrists" was one in a series of confrontations going back 16 years, when radical doctors objecting to traditional forms of education and treatment seized the inpatient psychiatric ward of Tokyo University's hospital. Allegations of abuse have also been made against administrators of some mental hospitals, where over 80% of Japan's more than 300,000 psychiatric patients are involuntarily confined. Calls for governmental involvement have come from foreign experts, but there has been little interest in reform in Japan, where involuntary commitment is easily arranged and the mentally ill are stigmatized.

Taijin Kyofusho: diagnostic and cultural issues in Japanese psychiatry.

Taijin Kyofusho or 'anthrophobia' is a Japanese culture-specific disgnostic label for the presenting problems of various fear reactions in interpersonal situations. The starting point of the present study was accumulating studies on Japanese cases of Taijin Kyofusho and the assertion in Japanese psychiatry that the symptom complex called Taijin kyofusho is Japanese culture-bound. In light of previous works on culture-bound disorders, the present study examines whether or not American mental health professionals could diagnose Japanese case descriptions of Taijin Kyofusho and what kinds of labels they applied to these Japanese cases. The results showed that American judges were able to diagnose Japanese cases nearly as well as American cases. However, there were considerable variability and inconsistency in their judgments of both the Japanese and American cases. The rate of disgnostic agreement dropped considerable as judges were asked to proceed from broad categories to specific categories. American judges grouped the Japanese cases of Taijin Kyofusho into a number of heterogeneous categories using labels such as paranoid schizophrenia, paranoid personality, phobic neurosis, and anxiety neurosis, among others. These results are discussed in terms of psychopathological diagnostic criteria and present conceptualization of culture-bound disorders, value judgments of mental health professionals, and the social contexts in which Taijin Kyofusho reactions occur.

William Caudill's Contributions To Japanese Cul Tural Psychology and Psychiatry, a Memorial, by Carmi Schooler

William Caudill's Contributions To Japanese Cul Tural Psychology and Psychiatry, a Memorial, by Carmi Schooler

I. Far East

CHANG outlines the cultural-historical background of Japanese personality and the history of Japanese psychiatry, describes some mental disorders which are more common and others which are less common in Japan than in the West, and discusses Morita therapy in relation to the psychoanalytic approach. Of late there has been a good deal of interest in changes in the symptomatology of mental disorders over prolonged periods in relation to culture change within the same culture. Some studies of this nature concerning schizophrenia and depression carried out in Austria and Germany have been reported in the previous issue. A similar investigation concerning Japanes patients has been carried out by SAKURAI and his coworkers. They report on the effect of changes in value system, of family organization, of parent-child relationships and of other sociocultural factors on the clinical picture of schizophrenia. Also in previous issues various reports on the relevance of sibling rank to the nature of mental disorders in Far Eastern patients have been presented. These studies have been continued by YAMAGUCHI and his coworkers. KADRI, reporting from Singapore, noted a disproportionately high number of schizophrenics among Ceylonese Tamils as compared with other students. KORA in his monograph on Morita therapy comprehensively describes the type of patient suited for this treatment and the procedures adapted (cf. Trauscultural Psychiatric Research, W. Caudill, No. 8,July 1960, p. 12; E Vogel, No. 11, Oct. 1961, p. 8; W. Caudill and L. T, Doi, No. 15, Oct. 1963, p. 17).

The cultural context of Japanese psychiatry and psychotherapy.

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article ArticlesNo AccessThe Cultural Context of Japanese Psychiatry and PsychotherapySuk Choo Chang, M.D.Suk Choo Chang†Mailing address: 210 Prospect St., New Haven, Conn. 06511.New Haven, Conn.Search for more papers by this author, M.D.Published Online:30 Apr 2018https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1965.19.4.593AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail PDFThis content is only available as a PDF. Access content To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access. Personal login Institutional Login Sign in via OpenAthens Purchase Save for later Item saved, go to cart PPV Articles - APT - American Journal of Psychotherapy $35.00 Add to cart PPV Articles - APT - American Journal of Psychotherapy Checkout Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability. Not a subscriber? Subscribe Now / Learn More PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development. Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.). FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byCross-cultural studies on the prevalence of personality disorders19 December 2018 | Current Issues in Personality Psychology, Vol. 6, No. 4Prevalence of Personality Disorders in a General Population Among Men and Women13 February 2017 | Psychological Reports, Vol. 120, No. 3Abstracts and Reviews : 2 Far East3 September 2016 | Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review, Vol. 20, No. 3 Volume 19Issue 4 1965, pp. 537–735Pages 593-606 Metrics PDF download History Published online 30 April 2018 Published in print 1 October 1965

SIMILAR AND DISSIMILAR MANIFESTATIONS OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE NEUROSES IN MONOZYGOTIC TWINS.

Contemporary Japanese psychiatry appears to have straightened up the major problems concerning the etiology and treatment of neurosis. There is no influential theory on the etiology other than the theory of psychogenesis, and psychiatrists are likely to be enjoying a satisfactory result with various techniques of psychotherapy of the disorder. In the past, however, psychiatrists had diverse theories of the etiology of neurosis. Hereditary disposition was once seen as one of the important etiological factors. Since genetic studies on neurosis did not clarify the existence of hereditary disposition, genetic theory has no longer been a leading hypothesis. One of the reasons that genetic studies have attracted little attention is, I think, that family study is not a pertinent method to distinguish hereditary and environmental factors which may play roles in the causation of the disorder. The purpose of this paper is to throw light on this old problem based upon the findings in our studies on twins suffering from neurosis. Table 1 shows the types of neurosis in index twin cases and the concordance and discordance of neurosis in their co-twins