Page 7 - Winter 2011

The challenges of Homeopathy in Japan – by Minako Kurodu
It has been roughly a decade since the JPSH (Japanese Physicians Society for Homeopathy) was established as a home- opathic organization for medical prac- tioners in Japan. More recently, we established the JAVH (Japanese Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy), a vet-focused group within the JPSH organization. Currently, the JAVH members exceed 100 vets in Japan. It’s been a long road, however, progress is being made in the welcoming of homeopathy in Japan. That said, we still have a long way to go. There are much criticism of homeopathy in many parts of the world, so it’s not surprising vets in Japan have experienced cynicism as well regarding homeopathic treatments. But, the issues regarding the mainstream accept- ance of homeopathy are unique in Japan. It’s not simply a matter of politics.
In Japan, everyone speaks Japanese. As a result, learning homeopathy only in English is challenging, difficult and/or impossible depending on the person. Not only are vets expected to understand English but they are required to understand specialized terms found only within the study of homeopathy. It’s one thing to determine when an animal is ill and it requires a particular medicine to cure it proven by scientific data. It’s quite another to fully comprehend and use the rubric system to help patients. Moreover, this system has proven incredibly challenging to translate into Japanese making English a requirement for those vets practicing homeopathy. This creates severe limits on who can engage in learning and practicing homeopathy in Japan. But these are not the only limits. For instance, the use of the term “damp”, a word I didn’t understand when I first heard it, refers to a weather pattern uncommon in Japan. Japan weather tends to be dry or humid, but not damp, so this provides another challenge. Even when translated, not all remedies can be applied in the same way as in the UK.
The above challenges are surmountable, I believe, however, it’s not uncommon for vets in Japan to work 10-hour days six days a week and be on call 24 hours a day. For those vets, homeopathy is not a realistic goal due to time constraints. Add to that the lack of the govern-
ment support that doesn’t recognize homeopa- thy as a medical treatment, hesitance to trust a system only sometimes scientifically-proven and the unpopular nature of homeopathy in Japan made worse by lay-homeopaths well- advertised mistakes, it’s kind of surprising homeopathy exists here at all.
In an effort to overcome these challenges the JAVH, with the JPSH, is moving towards being accepted at vet conference in Japan, making formal requests to government officials to help formally recognize homeopathy as a medical treatment, inviting guest-speakers from the UK to educate our members through the use of examples and translations and share Japan-focused case studies that take into con- sideration weather, culture and patient needs.
An important difference between UK-based and Japan-based patients is that our practices in Japan predominantly treat small animals. Livestock is not a concern for many private vets in Japan, especially those practicing homeopa- thy. In my clinic, for example, 100% of my patients are dogs, cats, and exotic animals like rabbits, hamsters, ferrets and small birds. The urban nature of many Japanese private clinics requires a different focus than that of many mixed practices in the UK. Moreover, our patients’ requirements tend to be demanding. People in Japan who adopt pets tend to per- sonify their pets as children or grandchildren. This means euthanasia is incredibly rare and generally requested only when a pet is fatally ill with a very severe condition at the terminal stage of cancer or dementia. But, this only occurs when a pet owner is convinced that he/she cannot care for the animal. Chronic renal failure, for instance, is not curable, but my clients generally care for their pets until death. Homeopathy is very helpful in these situations,
but this isn’t a focus in UK-based homeopathy. In Japan-based practices homeopathy is a very useful tool, but it’s used in conjunction with modern medicine. My clients, for example, pre- fer to utilize proven scientific methods to unfa- miliar homeopathy with the exception of behavioral issues. In these cases, homeopathy is sought after when a patient is made aware of that option. Those of us in the JAVH are working towards promoting homeopathy as an incredi- bly valuable asset to vets across Japan as an addition to modern medicine, not a replace- ment. In Japan, homeopathy is generally an unproven science in a foreign language. Until homeopathy can be fully explained and described in Japanese it will be difficult to sell to Japanese vets and government officials. We can’t rely solely on theory. We require solid sci- entific data.
It is our sincere hope to adopt and mold various homeopathic treatments based on the UK model, however, this must be done taking into consideration Japanese societal norms. This requires proving of the scientific merits of homeopathy beyond a doubt. Once this has been accomplished, it will become possible to gain more support from other vets who then will help us in our mission to have the government formally recognize and regulate the field of homeopathy in Japan. Without the endorse- ment of the government, homeopathy can never become a mainstream medical treatment in Japan.
To learn more about homeopathy in Japan, we’d like to invite you to the 67th LMHI con- gress in Nara, Japan on September 14-17th, 2012. (http://www.jpsh.jp/lmhi2012/)
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