Trying to make sense of digital health Japan news right now? Here’s the short version: Japan finished switching from paper health insurance cards to the My Number Card system in March 2026, it passed a major medical data reform law in December 2025, and its digital health market is growing faster than almost anywhere else in Asia, driven by AI diagnostics, telemedicine and an ageing population that badly needs both. This guide pulls together everything that’s changed this year, in plain English, with the dates and figures that actually matter if you live in Japan, plan to visit, or work in the sector.

The big story: My Number Card replaces the health insurance card

If you’ve searched digital health Japan news recently, you’ve probably run into this one first, since it affects almost everyone living in the country.

Japan has spent the past two years phasing out its old paper and plastic health insurance cards in favour of the My Number Card, the country’s national ID card. As of October 2025, around 87.3 million people held an integrated My Number Card, roughly 87% of all cardholders, though only 37% were actually using it for healthcare at that point.

Key dates for the transition

• December 2024: the government stopped issuing new paper health insurance cards.
• From late 2025: the My Number Card became the primary way to prove insurance eligibility at hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.
• March 2026: the grace period for using an old, expired health insurance card ended. Medical institutions had been allowed to accept expired cards until this point to smooth the transition, but that exception is now closed.
• From 2026 onwards: anyone without a My Number Card relies on a paper Certificate of Eligibility instead, which stays valid for up to five years.

What it actually does at the doctor’s

At a clinic or hospital, you tap or insert your My Number Card at a reader, then confirm your identity with a four digit PIN or, at some terminals, facial recognition. The system checks your insurance details on the spot rather than relying on a card that could be months out of date.

One genuinely useful feature: if your monthly medical costs go over the high cost cap (¥35,400 a month for lower income brackets, though the exact threshold depends on income band), the system applies that cap automatically. Under the old paper system, you had to apply for a separate certificate in advance to get the same benefit.

Mobile My Number cards

Japan has also started rolling out a mobile version, letting people store their My Number health insurance card directly in a smartphone wallet on iPhone or Android. It’s aimed at speeding up reception at clinics and keeping access working even if someone switches insurers, since there’s no physical card to reissue.

If you’re a foreign resident

Anyone staying in Japan for more than three months is legally required to enrol in public insurance. From 14 June 2026, new arrivals can apply for a combined Tokutei Zairyu Card, which merges the My Number Card and residence card (Zairyu Card) into one document, alongside their address registration in a single step. If you’re navigating this as a newcomer, the Mynaportal website is available in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Portuguese, and the AMDA International Medical Information Center runs a multilingual medical guidance line.

Medical DX reform: the law behind the transition

The card switch is really just the visible part of something bigger. On 5 December 2025, Japan enacted amendments to the Medical Care Act and the Comprehensive Reform Act for Healthcare Service Delivery, both under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. These build directly on the government’s 2023 Timetable for the Promotion of Medical DX (digital transformation).

The reform has two main strands. First, it expands the electronic medical record information sharing service run by Japan’s Digital Agency, which now lets medical institutions share three key documents (health checkup result reports, referral letters and discharge summaries) plus six categories of clinical information electronically between hospitals and clinics. Second, it widens the scope for online medical care, making remote consultations easier to access nationwide rather than being limited to certain regions or conditions.

Patients can also view their own health checkup results and the same six categories of medical information through their My Number Portal account, which is a genuinely new level of access compared with the old paper based system.

Separately, in April 2026, Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission approved a Cabinet decision to amend the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, tightening how health data can be used and shared as more of it moves online. If you work with patient data in Japan, this is worth reading in full rather than relying on summaries, since enforcement details are still being finalised.

AI diagnostics and digital therapeutics: what’s actually approved

Japan doesn’t have a formal legal definition of “digital health”. It’s used as a catch-all term for products and services that apply digital technology to medicine and healthcare, regulated mainly through the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act (the PMD Act), overseen by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA).

Digital therapeutics have real regulatory history here

Japan was early to this. CureApp SC, a smartphone app treating nicotine dependence, became the country’s first approved digital therapeutic in 2020, classified as a Class II medical device. In 2022, a related CureApp product for high blood pressure management received what’s widely reported as the world’s first regulatory approval for a hypertension digital therapeutic. Takeda has also developed a digital therapeutic app used to monitor Parkinson’s disease progression.

AI diagnostics are scaling up fast

Fujifilm has rolled out NURA, a network of AI augmented health screening centres that help doctors test for cancer and chronic disease with faster scans and lower radiation doses on CT imaging. The system uses large language models to generate text summaries of medical images, built on NVIDIA hardware.

Elsewhere, Japanese firms are integrating AI powered clinical decision support tools directly into electronic medical records, and pharmaceutical companies including Shionogi and Takeda have been expanding AI diagnostics tied to their own chronic disease pipelines. SoftBank Group has entered a joint venture with Tempus AI focused on health data analysis, one of several tech partnerships forming around Japan’s push toward AI enabled care.

Regulatory approach for software as a medical device

Japan’s PMD Act has covered software as a “program” medical device since a 2014 amendment, judged on two things: how much the software contributes to diagnosis, treatment or disease prevention, and how much risk a malfunction would pose to a patient. Software that just stores, displays or transmits data without any diagnostic or treatment role generally falls outside this framework. The PMDA also runs a pre-submission consultation process aimed at giving companies clearer, more predictable guidance before they formally apply, which has been a genuine selling point for firms choosing to launch in Japan first.

Telemedicine and remote monitoring for Japan’s ageing population

Japan has the highest ageing rate of any major country, with around 30% of the population aged 65 or over. That’s the driving force behind almost everything happening in Japan’s digital health sector right now.

Telemedicine platforms let patients consult doctors remotely by video call, app or web based system, which matters enormously in rural areas where the nearest specialist might be hours away. Alongside this, smartphone connected remote monitoring tools now track vital signs like heart rate, activity levels and chronic disease indicators, sharing that data with physicians in something close to real time so problems get caught before they become emergencies.

Digital health platforms built specifically for older users have also grown, letting family members and care staff check in on health data remotely without needing the patient to travel anywhere. For a country facing a genuine shortage of medical and care staff relative to demand, this isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s one of the few realistic ways to keep the system functioning as the population continues to age.

How big is Japan’s digital health market

Figures vary a fair bit depending on which market research firm you ask, since methodologies differ, but the direction of travel is consistent. One widely cited estimate puts Japan’s digital health market at around $31.4 billion in 2025, projected to reach roughly $58.3 billion by 2034. Other forecasts, using narrower definitions, put current figures lower with steeper projected growth rates.

Whichever number you trust, growth is being driven by the same handful of things: rising smartphone and wearable adoption, government backed digital transformation funding (Japan allocated JPY 61.7 billion, roughly £310 million, to digital health promotion in its FY2024 budget), an ageing population that needs more chronic disease management, and Japan’s comparatively fast regulatory pathway for digital therapeutics.

It’s worth being honest here: exact market size figures should be treated as estimates rather than fixed numbers, since different analysts use different scopes for what counts as “digital health”. Treat any single figure as a rough guide rather than gospel.

What this means if you’re travelling to or living in Japan

If you’re visiting Japan short term, none of this changes much day to day since travel insurance and standard clinic visits work broadly as before. But if you’re staying more than three months, you’ll need to get enrolled in public insurance and set up your My Number Card promptly, since delays can mean paying the full cost of care upfront rather than the standard 30% co-payment most residents pay.

Practical basics worth knowing: dial 119 for an ambulance, which is free, though the hospital treatment itself isn’t. Expect to pay somewhere between ¥850 and ¥3,000 (roughly £4.50 to £16, though exchange rates move) out of pocket for a basic clinic visit under insurance. Keep your four digit clinic PIN written down somewhere safe, since it’s separate from your other My Number PINs and easy to forget if you don’t use it often.

FAQs

What is Japan’s My Number Card health insurance system?

It’s a digital ID system that replaced Japan’s old paper and plastic health insurance cards, using the My Number Card to verify insurance eligibility at clinics, hospitals and pharmacies. The transition period for old cards ended in March 2026, so the My Number Card (or a paper Certificate of Eligibility for those without one) is now the standard route into the system.

Do I need a My Number Card to see a doctor in Japan?

Not strictly, since a paper Certificate of Eligibility remains valid as a fallback for people without a My Number Card. In practice though, the My Number Card is now the default, and not having either document can mean paying full cost upfront rather than the usual 30% co-payment.

What is digital health in the context of Japan?

Japan has no formal legal definition of “digital health”. It’s used broadly to describe medical and healthcare products or services that rely on digital technology and data, from AI diagnostics and remote monitoring to approved digital therapeutic apps like CureApp.

Is telemedicine widely available in Japan?

Yes, and it’s expanded significantly under the December 2025 medical DX reforms, which widened the scope for online medical consultations nationwide. It’s particularly useful in rural areas where specialist care can otherwise mean a long journey.

What is CureApp and why does it matter?

CureApp is a Japanese digital therapeutics company whose nicotine dependence app, CureApp SC, became Japan’s first approved digital therapeutic in 2020. Its hypertension management app followed in 2022, reported as the world’s first regulatory approval for a digital therapeutic treating high blood pressure.

How big is the digital health market in Japan?

Estimates vary depending on methodology, but a commonly cited figure puts the market at around $31.4 billion in 2025, with growth projected to around $58.3 billion by 2034. Treat any single figure as an estimate rather than an exact number, since different analysts define the market differently.

What happens to old Japanese health insurance cards now?

\Old paper and plastic health insurance cards are no longer accepted as of the end of the transition period in March 2026. Anyone still relying on an old card needs either a My Number Card registered for health insurance or a valid paper Certificate of Eligibility.

Why is Japan investing so heavily in digital health?

Japan has the highest ageing rate among major economies, with around 30% of the population aged 65 or older, alongside a shortage of medical and care staff relative to demand. Digital health tools, from remote monitoring to AI diagnostics, are one of the more realistic ways to manage rising chronic disease demand without a matching rise in available doctors and nurses.