What prevents Japan from establishing a clinical service of sleep medicine: Experience gained at a local hospital

We opened a mini-sleep disorders clinic in a local general hospital in rura l Japan, and have been operating it for more than 3 years, We encountered m any difficulties during this period when we tried to provide proper clinica l service. Problems ranged from lack of sleep specialists and polysomnograp hy technicians, shortage of funding, non-existence of an educational system to obtain comprehensive knowledge about sleep medicine, and also lack of c ooperation among different departments necessary for maintaining clinical s ervice. Through our experience, we analyzed various factors that prevent Ja pan from establishing a clinical service of sleep medicine.