Back to Contents of Issue: September 2002
by Bruce Rutledge |
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But to be fair, Japanese hospitals are not that bad (I am envisioning hate mail from maltreated readers already). The care is adequate, the cost not too expensive, so the system putters along. In our feature beginning on page 18 (Japan's Medical Revolutionary) we take you to a different world, where technology and plenty of money show just how good health care can get. Kameda Medical Clinic seems more like a hotel than a hospital and big, friendly John Wocher seems more like a long-lost uncle joining the family for an afternoon barbecue than a hospital administrator. The center, known for its prowess in open-heart and neurosurgery, is a constant reminder of what competition can bring to medical services. It serves as a reminder that Japan's highly regulated socialist system of medical care is not without its weak points. Elsewhere in this issue, we present Tokyo: The High-Tech Slum (page 46), a meditative photo-essay by Stephen Mansfield on the way Japan's capital city retains the look and feel of a slum in many parts, while remaining a sounding board for high-tech. Gail Nakada also takes us on a fast food tour as we try to figure out why the chains have all of a sudden decided that we need wireless Internet access via hotspots while we dine. Is it a brilliant stroke of marketing, or just a plain silly idea? Check out Wireless and Fries on page 27. Finally, senior editor Sumie Kawakami gives us some insight into what Japan's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, is thinking in Pulling Japan from its Socialist Roots on page 8. She profiles one of its young leaders, Yukio Edano, a rising star in a party that is trying desperately to capture the popular imagination. |
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