ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide a critical overview of mental health and therapy in Japan. The chapter outlines the Japanese mental health care system and how it has evolved, with a particular focus on the development of psychiatry and clinical psychology. Cultural conceptions of mind and body and the role of indigenous therapies that highlight the pluralistic nature of the Japanese mental health care system are also analyzed. Finally, recent anthropological studies on contemporary mental health challenges, suicide and hikikomori (youth social withdrawal), and their relevance to larger issues in contemporary Japan are examined.
