A critical review of health services in Japan

Japan was the first Asian country to introduce social insurance measures and it has expanded them during the last few decades. The first social insurance law was passed in 1922, dealing with worker's health insurance, and it was followed by the National Health Insurance in 1938, Seamen's Insurance in 1939, and Employees' Pension Insurance in 1921. However, these were seldom widely available in actual practice because of the characteristics of public assistance which limited them to the poor.