All residents of Japan are required (or at least expected) to belong to a government approved medical plan. Those who work for larger organizations such as companies or schools are usually included in their organization's medical plans. Most missionaries, though, belong to the national medical insurance plan. Within 2 weeks of your settling in Japan you are required to register with the local city (or town) office. When you register, they will probably encourage you to sign up for the national medical insurance plan. The cost is about 10 percent of your last year's income. With this insurance plan you pay 30% of the cost for visiting the doctor's office and also for prescription medicine. Doctors are easy to find, but it is not always easy to find one who understands English or who can communicate using English other than the technical medical terms he studied in medical school. Japanese national medical insurance covers most general medical bills and also certain types of chiropractic treatment (it depends on whether the chiropractor is registered or not).