Aiiku Hospital, a perinatal care center in Tokyo for high-risk pregnancies widely considered one of the best for expectant mothers, recently applied to the metropolitan government to end its emergency 24-hour status, underlining the serious shortage of doctors to treat pregnant women.
Aiiku is so highly thought of that Princess Kiko stayed there in 2006 to deliver Prince Hisahito, the long-awaited, now third-in-line, male heir to the Imperial throne.
The hospital has also stood out among local foreign residents as being particularly accommodative of non-Japanese speakers.