Establishing Mental Health Services for the Japanese Community in the United Kingdom

Some ethnic minority groups in the U.K. have worked on mental health issues within their communities, but there has been little research of how the Japanese community regards these issues. However, it has been shown recently that there are Japanese people in the U.K. who are suffering from living in another culture, and the need to establish systems and facilities to deal with mental health issues for the Japanese community has been identified. It is important to explore how we can develop the services in a culturally appropriate way. In the U.K., counselling and psychotherapy are largely based on Western psychology and cross-cultural issues focus mainly on Black/White relationships, and some issues are not applicable to Japanese clients. This article explains the current stream of cross-cultural issues in the U.K. and some aspects of Japanese culture. It goes on to summarise research results and address the need for professional services, highlighting possible obstacles and problems, as well as the areas where more work is required.