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March 15, 2011 Dear Colleagues, We appreciate kind concerns and heartfelt messages received from our colleagues from around the world with in regards to the earthquake disaster we experienced in Japan on March 11, 2011. Huge earthquakes and Tsunami hit northeastern Japan on that terrible day, and it turned out to be the biggest earthquake in Japanese recorded history. The earthquake brought fires and tsunamis to the regions of northeastern Japan including north Kanto area, and the damages it has caused has dealt us a psychological blow as well. The utmost efforts are being made to rescue the survivors, secure the minimum lifelines and restore infrastructures within the area, however many are still searching for their missing families and suffering from shortage of basic necessities such as food, water and fuels. In order to cope with this situation, we have set up an emergency headquarters within the association to collect information to provide necessary support to those who are suffering from the disaster. We are doing our best to ease their sufferings, and your kind attention and concerns to our fellows here in Japan give us the power to stand against this hardship. Again, we are deeply grateful of your encouraging messages, and hope we can recover quickly from this situation. Cordially yours, Haruki Nakamura President of Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists

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About OT in Japan

• Occupational Therapy in numbers (Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists)
• Historical highlights
• Employment opportunities for occupational therapists with foreign qualifications.

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Occupational Therapy in numbers (Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists)

As of March 2010 there are 47,759 qualified occupational therapists and 39,207 registered as member of the Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists (JAOT). It may be interesting to note that since 1990 the membership level of JAOT has been between 82 and 89% of all registered occupational therapists. According to the JAOT membership list of 2009, 67.3% of the Japanese occupational therapists were females while 32.7% were males.

In the first ten years of the Association the roster of registered occupational therapists was in the 500's and in the next decade these figures grew to 2,000. In 1966, a first group of 22 persons passed the newly established national licensing exam and they were the first persons to be registered as occupational therapist (OTR) 20 of them founded JAOT. Ten years later the number of JAOT members had reached 500. By 1987 JAOT had reached a membership of over 2,000 OTRs. From the mid 1990s the number of occupational therapists started to grow even faster to meet the needs of the aging of Japanese society. By the year 2010 39,207 OTRs are member of JAOT.

Most occupational therapists are working in clinical practice. About half are working physical dysfunction. Recently, practice is rapidly expanding in the field of care for the elderly. Furthermore, practice is expanding beyond the traditional work place of the hospital, into the community to include home environment adaptation and home based rehabilitation.

In 2010 there are 179 firmly established OT schools (199 courses) with about 7,645 occupational therapists graduating.

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Historical highlights

1963

The first occupational therapy school was established by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Tokyo as a three year diploma course. Most of the teaching staff were occupational therapists from the United States.

1965

The Law of Physical and Occupational Therapists was established.

1966

The First National Examination for the Licensure of Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists was held. Twenty licensed occupational therapists formed the J.A.O.T.

1967

Launch of the Japanese Journal of Physical and Occupational Therapy as a tri-monthly publication.

1970

J.A.O.T. joined the World Federation of Occupational Therapists as an associate member.

1972

J.A.O.T. became a full member of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists.

1974

National treatment payment system for occupational therapy was established.

1979

The first three year occupational therapy associate degree course under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Education was founded in Kanazawa.

1981

J.A.O.T. was approved as a corporation entity by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The first Japan-U.S. Rehabilitation Conference was held in Tokyo

1982

The first issue of J.AO.T's journal "Sagyouryouhou" was published.

1985

J.A.O.T. publishes a textbook called "Occupation, Its Therapeutic Application".

1991

Reorganization of the Association was carried out.

1992

The first 4 year degree occupational therapy course was established at Hiroshima University

1996

Occupational therapy graduate program in the health science department of Hiroshima University opens. (1996 Master, 1998 Ph.D.)
The 30th Anniversary of the Japanese Occupational Therapy Association.

1999

9,568 out of 11,035 OTRs (86.7%) belong to the J.A.O.T.

2005

25,751 out of 29,511 OTRs (87.3%) were member of belong to the J.A.O.T.

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Employment opportunities for occupational therapists with foreign qualifications.

Introduction

Under Japanese law one needs a Japanese occupational therapy license for practicing occupational therapy in Japan. However, there are opportunities to work in the field of occupational therapy without actually being directly in charge of treatment. Education is an obvious example. Furthermore, non Japanese nationals need appropriate documentation, such as a visa and a work-permit. Finally, one needs to be aware that each country has its ways of recruitment and job-searching. In Japan, applying to advertised jobs does happen, but is not the norm. Finding employment is more often than not achieved via personal and professional networks and introduction by a “third party", who is usually an acquaintance or persons already working at the organization of interest. So, what are the possibilities and requirements?

1. Licensing (clinical practice)

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has a procedure in place for applying for a Japanese license based on a professional qualification from a foreign country. This procedure involves presenting relevant documents, such as occupational therapy license, occupational therapy diploma, study results, content of studied course, and so forth. Diploma, license and similar official documents should be legalized by local authorities. All documents should be translated into Japanese and certified by a Japanese notary stating that the translation is based on true documents and as accurate as possible (done to the best of one's abilities). An application form and a form to be completed by a medical doctor (drug addiction is one reason for rejection of applications) are provided by the Ministry. Finally, the applicant may be required to provide other information as well, such as an outline of the main points of the laws concerning occupational therapy from the country/state where the applicant obtained a license/diploma, a resume, and so forth.

Non-Japanese nationals need to provide proof of fluency in Japanese. This entails passing the level one test of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (examinations are held once a year, around the world, on the first Sunday of December). Although Chinese and Korean nationals often pass this test with 2 years of study, other nationals usually require 4 years or more. Graduation from a Japanese High School will suffice too.

Collecting all the documents, official recognitions, translation and so forth will take at least several months. It may even take half a year or more, because it is not uncommon to be told that documentation is insufficient or incomplete and that one needs to resubmit after additional information has been added. The investigation that leads to granting or refusing the license-application will take another 3 months from the moment the documents have been presented at the ministry and accepted by the responsible official.

Finally, regulations at the ministry require that the applicant comes in person to receive the instructions for the application as well as submitting the necessary documentation. It is not known if persons living abroad may apply at the embassy of Japan, or other legal representative, in their country.

Alternatively, one may also attempt the national licensing examination (administered once a year in March), but the qualification for being allowed to sit on this exam need to be clarified with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

For exact instructions, please contact in Japanese:

Person-in-Charge-of-License-Registration (menkyo touroku kakari)

Health Policy Bureau, Medical Professions Division、Test and licensing Room,

Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
1-2-2 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100-8045 JAPAN
tel: 03-5253-1111, extension 2577

2. Other opportunities

Education:
Education is one area that is relatively open. A number of universities are desperate for persons with a PhD degree and the necessary visa and work permit should not be a problem. Persons with Master's Degrees and persons with a well developed specialty should also be able to find a job in education.

For occupational therapists without academic credentials, but who have an appropriate visa (one that allows them to work), there are opportunities to make a living in education, but it may require combining part-time teaching jobs. Please note that all educators are required to have at least 5 years of clinical experience.

Advisory/consultancy:
A Danish occupational therapist took a sabbatical from her college in Denmark and worked as an advisor/consultant for over a year (1994-1995) for a private organization that runs several nursing homes. She was offered this opportunity through professional networks with persons at that Japanese organization.

Volunteer/assistant:
How about a role as volunteer or assistant? It will keep you in touch with occupational therapy, but does not require a license, and so forth. There are no examples up to date of people who have done so, however with the right contacts this seems an option that is worth to pursue. Obviously, volunteers will not benefit from the salary and social and health insurances that occupational therapists receive. However, it may be an option for occupational therapists that came to Japan because of their spouse's work in Japan.

3.Visa and working permit

Persons of Japanese decent and spouses of Japanese nationals are generally granted visa's that allow them to work as well. Persons without such a status may find it impossible to get a working permit without the recommendation of a Japanese institution.

For correct and complete information: contact your local Japanese embassy or consulate, and readers who are already inJapan may enquire at their local immigration office.

Conclusion

The above information draws on the collective knowledge of the members of the international relations section of the Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists. This document also draws on my experience (I was granted a Japanese license in February 2003) and the experiences of Japanese persons who graduated abroad and who I have consulted with. Inaccuracies will exist in this document and I point out that interested persons contact relevant authorities to ascertain what the requirements are for completing necessary procedures. Therefore, no legal claims will be accepted. For further information, please contact me via the Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists.

This document was prepared by Peter Bontje, a member of the International Relations Section of the Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists,and approved by WFOT Delegate, Noriko Tomioka as an official document of the Japanese Association of Occupational Therapists, Nov. 2003.

Address: Morimitsu-shinko Bldg.,1-5-9 Kotobuki, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0042 Japan
Phone: 03-5826-7871 (from abroad +81. 3-5826-7871)
Fax: 03-5826-7872 (from abroad +81. 3-5826-7872)
E-mail: dep.international@jaot.or.jp

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