About Hetero Clinic

Hello, I am Dr. Kinomoto.
This is my private practice located in Kamakura.
Here at Hetero Clinic, we aim to support you on your journey back to your true state of well-being.
We believe that “health is a dynamic state of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
However, the medical world in Japan focuses too much on physical health because medical staff are overworked and do not have time to care for the patients’ overall well-being.
The major reason is insurance medical treatment. It allows people to get treatment whenever they want.
On the other hand, patients depend on it too much and hospitals become overcrowded.
As a result, doctors can only spend a limited time with each patient. So, it is difficult to receive tailor-made treatments.
At Hetero Clinic, we do not depend on insurance medical treatment. We provide individual care to support you in returning to your true state of well-being.

Vision

To become healthier than ever
Why do we get sick?
And why are we unable to change our ways of being, despite our sicknesses?
When I observe people who live to be older than 100, I see that it is their integrity to themselves that is the key to their health.
There are many ways to stay healthy, but I feel it is most important to recognize what you truly desire and live by them.
Many people spend life worrying about the opinion of others. And our actions are often influenced by them. But, it is stressful to live in a state that is not truthful to who you really are.
It may seem as though being honest about your desires is selfish. However, if you have the fulfillment of being true to how you want to live, then you are able to accept others who live the same way.
Being able to respect your inner-self leads to caring for your body with respect as well.
The opposite may be true too. Caring for your body allows you to treat your inner-self with more respect.
At Hetero Clinic, we support your journey to live as you truly are.

Terminal care

What does it mean to live your life as you truly are?

And what does it look like to meet the end of your life that way?

Compared to when I first became a doctor, the medical world in Japan has changed the way it thinks about terminal care.
It used to be very common to perform life prolonging treatment on elderly terminal patients.

Nowadays, more options are available. Tarminal care such as tube feeding has changed to include more variations based on personal context and lifestyle.
Though it is possible that these changes occured as a result of increasing medical charges among the aging population.

I believe that terminal care does not have a straight forward answer. And it must be tailor made for each person.

Unfortunately, in Japan, it is custom to avoid topics such as death or illness because it is considered bad luck.
This is why terminal care is not openly discussed even among close relatives. So, family members often have to make important decisions based on supeculation.

That is why it is important to choose for yourself and to communicate your choices to the people around you.

But most people dosen’t  know what the process of terminal care looks like or what the options are. So, it may be difficult to put a finger on what you want the end of your life to look like. This may become clear as you reflect on yourself.

To choose for yourself instead of leaving decisions up to your family members is a way to relieve your loved ones of a huge burden.

It is also a way to live the life you have left to the fullest.