With life expectancy among the highest in the world and Japan’s growing popularity as a tourist destination, a national travel agency and train operator have teamed up with a hospital to promote medical tourism near Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
In early December, Tokyo’s Rosai Hospital, located just a few kilometers from the city’s international airport, held two pilot visits offering comprehensive health screenings.
These tours were organized in partnership with the train operator Keikyu and the travel agency JTB. Participants were provided with transportation to and from the airport, as well as interpreters to accompany them.
The hospital’s medical screening menu included head MRI, gastroscopy and ultrasound to detect the disease at an early stage.
“This is the first time I have had a full health check-up,” said a Chinese woman living in Japan. “Although there are hospitals partnered with foreign companies in China, few offer services like comprehensive health exams in Japan.”
She said some of her friends in China are worried about their parents’ health and have expressed interest in Japanese medical services.
Keikyu and JTB offered two options: a one-on-one health check lasting just over five hours and a ten-hour tour that included a local organic cooking class and a visit to a hot spring. The latter option takes advantage of Keikyu’s relationship with the community and local businesses.
The pilot program is part of a project that receives broad support from the government tourism agency, which helps develop tourism content using local resources and expanding sales channels.
Organizers plan to officially start selling medical tourism packages in the next fiscal year, which begins in April.
“We wanted to check whether there is demand for medical services among foreign visitors,” said Noriki Kitamura of Keikyu’s “value co-creation department,” which promotes collaboration among several group companies.
While participants in the test trips were Japanese residents from China, Taiwan and the Philippines, the collaborating companies also aim to attract visitors from Europe and the Americas, as well as tourists from Asia.
According to data from Global Information and Global Market Insights, the medical tourism market in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to reach US$42.1 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach US$95.2 billion by 2033. The medical tourism market encompasses sectors that provide healthcare services to patients traveling abroad or within the country seeking medical treatment.
The Japanese market is expected to grow from US$1.3 billion in 2025 to US$3.3 billion in 2033.
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