I noticed a couple of similarities between Finland and Japan:

- doctors don't come to the patient's home. I know that in some countries doctors visit patient's homes and in Finland we're supposed to have a "personal doctor" system (meaning that you always get the same doctor but it doesn't really always work...) but you always have to go to a clinic or a hospital. The idea of a doctor coming to my home seems really weird to me o_o (we still don't have people calling an ambulance when they have a stomach ache, though) I mean, if you go to a clinic, the doctor is sure to have all the equiptment s/he needs to examine you etc...

- doctors at clinics stop working "early". Doctors who aren't working at the ER stop working maybe around 6 pr 7pm. This is because you usually have an appointment for a doctor and when you ahve an emergencies you go to the ER. It's not usually possible for people to call to a doctor when they want to. If you have a condition that needs to be treated on the same day, you have to call the doctor in the morning (8-9am) to get an appointment... Is it like this in Japan, too?

- doctors don't work on weekends/holidays. You have to go to the ER and queue for hours if you want to be treated on a weekend or holiday. It's one of the nicest things to do when you're really in pain -_-

And one question about medicines. Here it's possible to get the pharmacy to change the brand of your (per prescription only) medication to a cheaper one if it works the same way, can you do this in Japan?

But why do you need a real pharmacy when most drug stores have an attending pharmacist?
Maybe it just feels weird to buy soda and meds at the same time?
When I was in Estonia with my friend, she wanted to go to the pharmacy but wouldn't go in because at almost all the parmacies, all of the products were behidn the counter - you couldn't just browse if they have what you need. It's not all that difficult to ask the pharmacist for what you need, we're just not used to that here ^^ I would've gone in and asked them anyway, though...