Assessing the Accessibility of Medical Facilities with Multilingual Support for Foreign Residents in Japan: A Spatial Distribution Perspective

In recent years, as the population of foreign residents in Japan has rapidly increased, societal discussion about their medical coverage has intensified. Given the concerning health status and medical service utilization of foreign residents in Japan, and the critical role of medical facilities with multilingual support (MFMS)--including key facilities designated for foreign patients--this study is the first to assess the accessibility of such facilities for foreign residents at the municipal level using publicly available geographic information systems. The evaluation focused on two departments closely tied to daily life: surgery and internal medicine. The results reveal that accessibility indices for medical facilities offering multilingual services in surgery are low across most areas of Hokkaido and the Tohoku region, as well as northern Niigata and Shizuoka prefectures, central Miyazaki prefecture, and major islands with foreign resident populations. Similar patterns were observed for internal medicine. This suggests that local foreign residents may face significant challenges in accessing specialized, linguistically consistent medical services in surgery or internal medicine.