The government will allow five non-Japanese doctors to practice at four hospitals in Tokyo from around December. Their patients will be limited to non-Japanese who agree to pay full costs themselves.
The move, proposed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and approved by the central government on June 29, is part of a "special zone" deregulation initiative spearheaded by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Currently, doctors from the U.S., the U.K., France and Singapore can practice in Japan without a Japanese medical license under bilateral agreements with those nations, but they can only see patients of their own nationality.
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