Sociocultural background of the mental health system in Japan.

Japan is not among the countries with a high ratio of beds and admissions into psychiatric hospitals to total population, but the average length of hospitalization in Japan is among the longest in the world. The ie characteristic of Japanese culture has taken care of the elderly and the mentally disturbed even though it regarded them as a nuisance, thus serving to keep the number of beds and admissions in Japan lower than in Western countries. But those treated as a nuisance who sever all face-to-face ties upon being admitted to hospitals tend to be expected culturally to regard the hospitals as their homes, thus prolonging the length of their hospitalization.