PRE-STG
A Japanese hospital consultation room

Why Japan

The quality of Japanese medicine, in numbers

Most Americans have never had a reason to look at how Japan’s healthcare system compares. The outcomes, the timing of diagnosis, and the survival rates tell a clear story.

1/2

In Japan, the treatable mortality rate is nearly half that of the United States.

61%

lower healthcare spending per capita — a highly cost-efficient medical system

+5.7 yrs

Life expectancy at birth in Japan runs 5.7 years longer than in the U.S.

Each figure is cited in full in the sections below.

The evidence

Most Americans have no idea how advanced Japanese medicine is.
It isn’t a ranking. It’s what’s standard.

This isn’t about a healthier lifestyle. Treatable mortality — deaths that timely, effective care could have prevented — is the measure built to strip lifestyle out, and it is where the gap shows up most clearly.

1/2

In Japan, the treatable mortality rate is nearly half that of the United States.

49 per 100,000 in Japan vs 95 in the U.S.

Treatable mortality counts deaths that timely, effective healthcare could have prevented. Japan’s rate is close to half that of the United States, and below the OECD average of 79.

Sources: OECD, Health at a Glance 2025 — Country notes: United States and Japan, “Mortality” (data: OECD Health Statistics 2025).

Medical staff and a patient in a hospital corridor
A surgeon's hands using an instrument during surgery

61%

lower healthcare spending per capita — a highly cost-efficient medical system

Japan spends $5,790 per capita on healthcare compared to $14,885 in the U.S. (OECD Health at a Glance 2025). Prices differ too: on the OECD’s standardized basket of identical healthcare goods and services, Japan sits at 51 against an average of 100, and the United States at 152.

International patients are treated outside the national insurance system, so each hospital sets its own price, and it sits above the domestic regulated rate. What Arbitra Health can tell you is what that price will be: two or more written offers before you choose, no markup from Arbitra Health, and the figure fixed in writing before you travel.

Eligibility, treatment plans and final pricing are decided case by case by the treating hospital, not by Arbitra Health.

Sources: OECD, Health at a Glance 2025 — Country notes: United States and Japan (data: OECD Health Statistics 2025); OECD, Health at a Glance 2025, Figure 7.6 — comparative price levels in the health sector, 2023 (OECD average = 100).

+5.7 yrs

Life expectancy at birth in Japan runs 5.7 years longer than in the U.S.

84.1 years in Japan vs 78.4 in the U.S.

Japan’s life expectancy is among the highest in the world, above the OECD average of 80.3 years.

Source: OECD, Health at a Glance 2025 — Country notes: United States and Japan, “Life expectancy” (data: OECD Health Statistics 2025).

An older patient in Japan

These are population-level figures describing a health system. They are not a statement about any individual result, and no outcome is promised.

Specialties

Examples of conditions treatable with surgery in Japan

Specialists at our partner hospitals in Japan handle each field. The fields below are representative examples, not a complete list.

01

Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (endoscopic resection for the stomach and colon; ERCP for the bile duct)

02

Digestive & General Surgery (laparoscopic cholecystectomy, hernia repair)

03

Urology (kidney stones, enlarged prostate)

04

Orthopedic Arthroscopic Surgery (meniscus, rotator cuff)

05

Ophthalmology (LASIK, implantable contact lenses, cataract surgery)

06

Gynecologic Laparoscopic Surgery (fibroids, ovarian cysts)

We expect to accept a wider range of conditions beyond these. If your condition isn’t listed, ask your coordinator during your consultation. The service focuses on planned, minimally invasive procedures, and the fields we can accept are being confirmed with hospital partners on an ongoing basis.

Ready to get started?

You shouldn’t have to think about the cost of care every day. Start with membership, and take that question off your mind.

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Available to residents of Texas, Florida, and Arizona who are 18 or older.