The reasons why I became a transcultural psychiatrist in a country considered to be culturally homogeneous are presented. Efforts to nurture cultural psychiatry in Japan through the activities of the Japanese Society of Transcultural Psychiatry are described. Experiences in Vancouver, Canada in the 1980s formed the basis of my cultural psychiatric research. Research on the mental health of Japanese community in Vancouver and on ethnic minorities in Japan is discussed. Specific examples are included to explain how unique Japanese cultural traits can affect diagnosis and treatment. The future of Japanese cultural psychiatry in a global context is considered.
Kirmayer, L.J., & Minas, H. ( 2000). The future of cultural psychiatry: An international perspective . Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 45, 438-446.
2.
Lin, T.Y., Tardif, K., Donetz, G., & Gresky, W. ( 1978). Ethnicity and patterns of help-seeking. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 2, 3-13.
3.
Morris-Suzuki, T. ( 1995). Invention and reinvention of ‘‘Japanese culture’’ . Journal of Asian Studies, 54, 759-780.
4.
Noda, F. ( 1991). Ase O Kaki Kaki Resident (Sweating bullets). Tokyo: Seiwa Shoten Publishers, Tokyo (Japanese) .
5.
Noda, F. ( 1994). Mental health services for Japanese living in Canada: Vancouver’s experience. Kokoro no rinshou a la carte , 13, 87-92. (Japanese).
6.
Noda, F. ( 2008). Advancing collaboration of the East and West: Special issues for the JSTP, WPATPS and WACP joint meeting in Kamakura, April 2007 . World Cultural Psychiatry Research Review, 3, 164-166.
7.
Noda, F. ( 2009). Anxiety, acceptance and Japanese healing: The role of traditional healing in Japanese mental health. In M. Incayawar, R. Wintrob & L. Bouchard (Eds.), Psychiatrists and traditional healers: Unwitting partners in global mental health (pp. 167-178). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
8.
Noda, F., Inoue, S., Naka, K., Noda, M., Kage, T., & Yamashiro, T. ( 1988). Mental health consultation for Japanese community in Vancouver. Shakai Seishin Igaku [Social Psychiatry Journal], 11(2), 168-173. (Japanese).
9.
Noda, F., Kurabayashi, L., Takahashi, T., Nouchi, R., Ukawa, K., Yoshida, N., Kondo, S., & Noguchi, M. ( 2009). Mental health beliefs and help seeking for schizophrenia and depressive disorders among Cambodians in Japan and Cambodia. Psyche and Culture, 8, 154-167. (Japanese).
10.
Noda, F., Noda, M., & Clark, C. ( 1990). Family factors affecting adjustment in Japanese immigrant housewives. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 689-692.
11.
Noda, F., Noda, M., Kage, T., Yamashiro, T., & Clark, C. ( 1991). Preference for hospital-based outpatient treatment among Japanese patients in Vancouver. Hospital and Community Psychiatry , 42, 634-636.
12.
Peters, R. ( 1987). Ethnic under-utilisation of community mental health services: Problem-solving approaches in Vancouver, B.CA brief submitted to the Canadian task force on mental health issues affecting immigrants and refugees.
13.
Ukawa, K., Noda, F., Tezuka, C., Matsuoka, H., & Ganesan, S. ( 2010). Mental health beliefs and help seeking for schizophrenia and depressive disorders among Vietnamese in Japan, Canada and Vietnam. Psyche and Culture, 9, 56-68. (Japanese).
