A weekly look at the drugs, procedures, and preventive care available in Japan — often years ahead of standard practice in the United States.
Japan approved ultra-high-dose mecobalamin (Rozebalamin) to slow early ALS. In the United States there is no approved version, and patients can reach it only through personal import.
Since 1999, an oral chemotherapy called S-1 has been a backbone cancer treatment in Japan, later spreading across Europe. It has never been approved by the FDA.
Vonoprazan, a next-generation acid blocker invented and approved in Japan in 2015, didn't reach American patients until late 2023 — a case study in how far apart two advanced healthcare systems can drift on something as common as heartburn.
Since 2014, Japan has let patients access certain stem cell and tissue-engineered therapies years before they clear U.S. trials — a bold regulatory experiment with real trade-offs.
Japan approved the world's first drug for cancer cachexia, the wasting syndrome that affects most advanced cancer patients. The United States still has no approved treatment for it at all.
Japan runs a national screening program that catches stomach cancer early with endoscopy or X-ray. In the United States, there is no routine screening test for the disease at all.
Japan has treated cancer patients with carbon ion radiotherapy since 1994 and now covers it under national health insurance. The first U.S. facility isn't expected to open until 2028.
Japan has approved a light-activated therapy for head and neck cancer that spares healthy tissue. In the United States, the same treatment is still working through Phase 3 trials.
As our first guests complete their journeys, we will publish their experiences and outcomes alongside these articles — always with their permission, and never embellished.
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