Women's Health in Japan - Obstetrics and Gynaecology
About the tour
Japan is a blend of gracious tradition, exquisite ritual and neon modernity. Experience different facets of this exceptional country, seeing the culture, society and history of Japan through the prism of women's health, obstetrics and gynaecology.
See Japan’s most famous traditional art and crafts, as well as contemporary art. Visit one of Japan’s three great gardens, one of its most imposing castles and the ancient capital of Kyoto. Experience lesser-known Japan, including the geisha district of Kanazawa and the laneways of Kurishiki, and cruise across the Inland Sea.
There are a range of professional visits, meetings and talks providing real insight into women's health in Japan.
The tour is accompanied by an expert tour leader and a highly experienced Japanese national guide.
There is an optional pre-tour extension to Mt Fuji.
Numbers are strictly limited and the tour will fill on a first come, first served basis.
Download our brochure Women's Health in Japan - Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Our online booking system is temporarily unable to accept payments. If you would like to book this tour please call our office on:(Toll Free) 1-8777-398-764.
Your tour leader
Richard Smith
Professor J. Richard Smith MD, DSc, FRCOG is a consultant gynaecological surgeon at the Queen Charlotte's and Hammersmith Hospitals, Imperial College NHS Trust and Honorary Consultant in Transplantation Surgery at Oxford University Hospitals. He was Adjunct Associate Professor at the New York University School of Medicine from 2001 to 2021 and is currently Professor of Practice, Imperial College.
Professor Smith graduated from the University of Glasgow and worked in various Scottish hospitals until 1988. He then moved to further his training at St Mary’s Hospital in London and took up a consultant post at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital in 1993. He is also an honorary consultant at the Royal Brompton Hospital. He moved to Hammersmith/Queen Charlotte’s Hospital a few years ago where his sub-specialisation of gynaecology is oncology, and within this he specialises in gestational trophoblastic disease, ovarian germ cell tumours, cervical cancer and vulval disease. During his career, he co invented the procedure of radical abdominal trachelectomy, and the modified Strassman procedure to allow fertility sparing surgery for woman with rare uterine tumours. He also invented the Smith’s safety needle holder. He is a registered colposcopist and has a long-running interest in the management of pelvic pain and the psychology both of his patients and of the operating theatre.
His main surgical interest is fertility-sparing surgery and his research interest is the development of uterine transplantation, both from live and deceased donors. He is the Chairman of Womb Transplant UK Charity and leader of this research team. He is an Honorary Consultant in Transplantation Surgery at the University of Oxford hospitals. He is also involved with research related to endometrial transplantation, endometrial stem cell research and novel treatments for vulval cancers.
He has a long-running interest in doctor-patient communication and has published Women’s Cancers; Pathways to Healing 2009, Women’s Cancers; Pathways to Living 2015. He is the series editor of Patient Pictures (17 books) (210,000 copies).
With respect to books for the medical profession he is First Editor of an Atlas of Gynaecological Oncology (4 editions) and first author of eight other post-graduate medical textbooks. He has over 200 peer reviewed publications as well as numerous reviews and articles.
In the field of non- medical publishing he has published two books, The Journey: Spirituality, Pilgrimage and Chant, DLT, 2016 and A Very Byzantine Journey, Sacristy Press, 2022. He currently has two new books for the general public one with his agent entitled The Sacrifices a Woman will make in Pursuit of a Baby. The other, Womb Transplant - An Epic Journey is with World Scientific Press.
He has four children whom he loves dearly and spends his time between London, where he lives on a house boat, and Scotland, where he lives at the south end of an island, in the middle of nowhere.
Need more information?
- Tel: (Toll Free) 1-8777-398-764
- Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm
Itinerary at a glance
Pre-Tour Extension: 26 - 28 October 2024
- Pre-Tour Day 1: Tokyo (Sat, 26 Oct) Arrive and overnight at the hotel.
- Pre-Tour Day 2: Tokyo (Sun, 27 Oct) Take the Romance Car, an Odakyu Limited Express Train with specially built carriages with large viewing windows, to Fuji. Take a cable car to Lake Ashi for wonderful views of Mount Fuji before returning to Tokyo and overnight.
Main Tour: 28 October – 9 November 2024
- Day 1: Tokyo (Mon, 28 Oct) Arrive in Tokyo, a vast city encompassing a multitude of distinctive personalities, and transfer to the hotel. Hear a background on Japanese medicine from Dr Itauru Deiko, including an overview of Japanese medical history, how it has developed and similarities and differences with the other countries. Walk a short distance to enjoy a local dinner.
- Day 2: Tokyo (Tue, 29 Oct) Visit fashionable Harajuku, the Woodblock Print Museum and the Nezu Museum and its lovely gardens. Meet with the Japanese Society of OBGYN and Japanese Society of Gynecologic Oncology. Welcome dinner with some members of local societies.
- Day 3: Tokyo (Wed, 30 Oct) Visit the the historic Asakusa neighbourhood and Senso-ji Temple and the Sky Tree. Cruise through canals to central Tokyo. Walk across tranquil Hamarikyu Gardens. Visit the National Cancer Centre, Japan’s leading cancer research and treatment centre, and learn of epidemiology and cancer care in Japan.
- Day 4: Tokyo / Kanazawa (Thur, 31 Oct) Take the bullet train across Japan to Kanazawa. Visit the geisha quarter (Higashichaya Old Town) including the Ochaya Bunkakan Sake House, Kaikaro Geisha House, a gold leaf house and museum.
- Day 5: Kanazawa (Fri, 1 Nov) Visit Kenrokuen Garden at the best time to view stunning autumn foliage* and the romantic ruins of Kanazawa Castle. Visit the Samurai Quarter, including the old pharmacy, the samurai house and garden, the Yuzen Silk Centre and the Kubani Kutaraki pottery. * During the autumn nights at the Kenrokuen Garden, the yukitsuri ropes suspending the branches of the trees and the beautiful foliage are lit to evoke a magical atmosphere.
- Day 6: Kanazawa / Okayama (Sat, 2 Nov) Travel by train to Okayama. Arrive late afternoon and visit the Korakuen Gardens, one of the three great gardens of Japan, and see Okayama Castle and the gardens at a lovely time of year. See the Chishio-no-mori Grove, possibly the most beautiful and certainly the most famous maple area in Korakuen. Its name means "dyeing one thousand times": a metaphor for the maple leaves gradually turning red like a cloth turns red in dyeing. Between October and December, the grove reaches its peak as it becomes quite entirely red: a kaleidoscope of nuances not to be missed.
- Day 7: Okayama (Sun, 3 Nov) Travel to Kurashiki and explore the town’s attractive riverside area, the old merchant’s quarter and the pharmacy museum. Afternoon at leisure in Kurashiki or option to visit the Ohara Museum of Art. Return to Okayama and at leisure.
- Day 8: Okayama / Hiroshima / Okayama (Mon, 4 Nov) Take the train to Hiroshima, a city with a cataclysmic past that is today a powerful symbol for world peace. Visit the Peace Memorial Park and Museum. Take a cruise on the Inland Sea (with lunch) past the vivid red Torii Shrine set in the water, denoting that the entire island of Miyajima is sacred. Explore the island on a walking tour. Return by train.
- Day 9: Okayama / Kobe (Tues, 5 Nov) Take the train to Kobe, stopping en route at Japan’s most iconic castles, the recently restored Himeji Castle. Continue to Kobe, a port city surrounded by the ocean and mountains. Visit the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, housed in a beautiful building on the site of a tea house. The museum details the tools and techniques involved in traditional Japanese crafts. Transfer to the hotel.
- Day 10: Kobe (Wed, 6 Nov) Visit Kameda Maternity and Ladies Clinic in Kobe and meet with Dr Kameda for a meeting on international comparative systems in obstetrics and gynaecology. Visit the Kobe wharf area before continuing to a sake brewery for a tour and tastings. Optional Kobe Beef dinner.
- Day 11: Kobe / Kyoto (Thur, 7 Nov) Transfer to Kyoto. Walk through the Arashiyama bamboo forest. Visit the Actors’ Garden and tea house. Visit Fushimi Inari with the option to take part in the Tofukuji Walk.
Continue to Kyoto and check in to the hotel. - Day 12: Kyoto (Fri, 8 Nov) Take a walking tour of Kyoto’s food and craft markets (walk down Nishiki and Teramachi-dori) and explore old Kyoto. Visit the shimmering medieval Golden Pavilion, with its sensuously contoured temple roofs and Shinto shrines, and take a walking tour through its raked pebble gardens. At leisure in Kyoto until a farewell dinner in the evening.
- Day 13: Kyoto (Sat, 9 Nov) Depart Kyoto after breakfast.
Tour cost
The cost of the tour per person sharing is US $5,832 per person. The cost of the tour with a room to yourself is US $7,176.
Our online booking system is temporarily unable to accept payments. If you would like to book this tour please call our office on:(Toll Free) 1-8777-398-764.