Dear Administrative Reform Minister Yoshito Sengoku,
In a country that dares to be a democracy, your courageous ideas are certain to attract controversy and debate. Please let me offer tentative support for your proposal to allow qualified international doctors to practice medicine without taking the national licensure exam in Japanese.
I should first disclose that I am a doctor employed by Fukushima Medical University. My diplomas are entirely American, including an M.D., a Ph.D in biochemistry, residency in the specialty of pathology, and fellowship in the subspecialty of transfusion medicine. I maintain American Board of Pathology certification in both clinical pathology and transfusion medicine, and I am licensed to practice medicine and surgery in the state of California.