Japanese Hospital Departments Vocabulary: Naika, Geka, Shōnika and More

How department names are built

Almost every department name is a compound ending in ka, which means section or department. The first part says what the section deals with. Nai, inside, gives naika, internal medicine. Ge, outside, gives geka, surgery. Shōni, small child, gives shōnika, paediatrics. Hifu is skin, so hifuka is dermatology; gan is eye, so ganka is ophthalmology; shi is tooth, so shika is dentistry. Jibika is short for jibi inkōka, ears, nose and throat.

Longer names stack a modifier in front. Seikei geka is orthopaedic surgery; keisei geka, with a different kei, is plastic surgery, and the two are easy to confuse on a board. Shinryō naika is psychosomatic medicine, for stress-related physical symptoms, while seishinka is psychiatry. Sanfujinka combines sanka, obstetrics, and fujinka, gynaecology, and some clinics list only one of the two.

The departments in one table

The table below covers the departments on almost any hospital board and most clinic signs. Clinics often combine two or three, such as naika and shōnika, or hifuka and hinyōkika, on the same sign. Larger hospitals split naika into organ-based sections, such as shōkaki naika, gastroenterology, and junkanki naika, cardiology, but the reception desk will direct you if you name the general one.

A few more that appear on large boards: hōshasenka, radiology; masuika, anaesthesiology; nōshinkei geka, neurosurgery; and kyūkyū, the emergency department, usually signposted separately with a red sign.

Choosing the department for a symptom

Because you choose the department yourself, it helps to think in categories before you set out. Fever, cough, sore throat, stomach ache, diarrhoea and general feeling unwell all go to naika. A child with any of those goes to shōnika. Cuts, sprains, back pain and suspected fractures go to seikei geka for bones and joints, or geka for wounds. Rashes, itching and insect bites go to hifuka. Eye pain or sudden changes in vision go to ganka, and ear pain, blocked nose, hay fever and dizziness go to jibika.

Two choices surprise many visitors. Hay fever, kafunshō, is treated at jibika rather than naika, and mild sore throats are often taken to jibika too. Stress-related symptoms such as insomnia, appetite loss or palpitations with no physical cause go to shinryō naika, which is less intimidating for many people than seishinka. If you are genuinely unsure, naika is the safe default: the doctor will refer you onward if needed.

• Fever, cough, stomach: naika; for a child, shōnika
• Sprain, back pain, possible fracture: seikei geka
• Deep cut, wound that needs stitches: geka
• Rash, itching, eczema: hifuka
• Eye pain, blurred vision: ganka
• Ear, nose, throat, hay fever, dizziness: jibika
• Insomnia, stress symptoms: shinryō naika
• Toothache: shika, which is usually a separate clinic

Dentists are almost always separate clinics called shika iin, and you rarely find one inside a general hospital, so search for shika on its own.

Kurinikku, iin and byōin

The Japanese system expects you to start small. A kurinikku or iin is a clinic: one or two doctors, a few specialities, no beds, and usually walking distance from home. A byōin is a hospital, with many departments, wards and a much longer wait. Large hospitals discourage walk-ins for minor problems, and many add an extra charge if you come without a shōkaijō, a referral letter from a clinic; the amount and rules vary, so check the hospital's website or ask.

The practical path is therefore clinic first, hospital if referred. Clinics also tend to be faster and easier for a learner, because reception has time to explain the form. Signs help you identify them: a sign reading naika, shōnika with a family name in front is a clinic run by that doctor, and a sign with sōgō byōin, general hospital, is the big one. Opening hours, uketsuke jikan, are posted at the door and reception usually closes some time before the doctor stops seeing patients.

At the reception desk

Reception, uketsuke, is where the department decision becomes a form. The first question is almost always shoshin desu ka, is this your first visit here, or hajimete desu ka. If yes, you hand over your hokenshō, health insurance card, and fill in a monshinhyō, a questionnaire about your symptoms and history. If not, you hand over the shinsatsuken, the patient card from last time, and say what you are there for.

You may also be asked which department, nani-ka, whether you have a referral letter, and whether you have an appointment. Then you sit in the waiting room, machiaishitsu, until your name or number is called. In many clinics you take off your shoes at the door and use slippers, so watch what others do.

Words on the reception form

The monshinhyō varies by clinic but the headings repeat. Shimei is your full name, often with a furigana line for the reading, and seinengappi is your date of birth, sometimes with a box for the Japanese era. Jūsho is address and denwa bangō is telephone number. Shōjō is symptoms, and the form usually asks itsu kara, since when. Kiōshō is your medical history, arerugī is allergies, and fukuyōchū no kusuri is medicine you are currently taking. Ninshin-chū, pregnant, and junyū-chū, breastfeeding, appear on women's forms.

You will also see shoshin and saishin as tick boxes, and hokenshō and shinsatsuken as items to present. Okusuri techō is the medicine notebook that pharmacies issue; bring it if you have one, because the doctor uses it to check interactions. When a field is unclear, ask reception; they see foreign patients more often than you might expect and will explain or let you skip it.

When you pick the wrong department

Choosing wrongly is common and easy to fix. If reception thinks another department fits better, they will say so and redirect you, sometimes to a different building. If the doctor decides after examining you, they write a shōkaijō and send you on, either within the hospital or to a specialist clinic. Neither is a problem, and nobody will be annoyed; the system is built around it.

The mistake that costs time is going straight to a large hospital for a small problem. Without a referral you may wait hours and pay extra, and you may still be sent to a clinic. Another is confusing seikei geka with keisei geka, or shinryō naika with shinkei naika, which is neurology. When in doubt, describe the symptom rather than guessing the department, and let reception choose.