On the surface, Irabu General Hospital appears no different from other medium-size privately owned medical facilities in the Tokyo area. It's only when patients' conditions defy simple diagnosis or treatment and they are referred to the Neurology Department that the fun begins, in this collection of five humorous stories focusing on the absurdities of modern living. Hideo Okuda's vernacular work, released in 2002, achieved best-seller status.
As a doctor warns a first-time patient in the lead story, "In the Pool," "Our neurologist is a little bit eccentric, but don't worry, you'll soon get used to him."
Marcus Welby he's not. Dr. Irabu's little examination room in the hospital's basement is more like something out of The Addams Family mansion.