Shakuei orthopedic (Kurashiki, Okayama)

The name "Tsunohiko" came from the name of the gynecologist who delivered my child. He was a very respectable and respected person, so my mother named me after him. My mother had always wished for me to become a doctor. However, when I was in the fourth grade, I wrote an essay about my future dream of becoming the Prime Minister. My mother had always wanted me to become a politician. I intended to become a politician, so I enrolled in an advanced school in Okayama for high school. However, when I chose my major, a teacher told me, "Your mother wants you to become a doctor more than a politician." I struggled with it, but when I was in the third grade, I decided to become a doctor, just as my mother wanted.

There is a fateful episode in the story of Dr. Yonago opening a clinic in this location. “This place used to be a field. When I was walking here with my mother before entering medical school and asked her, ‘Can I become a doctor?’ she encouraged me, ‘It’s okay, keep trying.’ When I saw the results of the national exam and called to say, ‘I’ve passed,’ I suddenly remembered the scene of us walking here together. In fact, the clinic moved here by fate from the previous location (now a day care center). This place became the starting point for me. It was the place where my mother and I decided our future and decided to become doctors. I wasn’t planning to move here; in the end, we were able to sell the land.” In a sense, this place is a place of destiny.”

"I was born and raised in this town. I started practicing in June 2003, but for the previous 10 years I worked as a general practitioner. Every time I came home, I was told by acquaintances that if I ever wanted to start my own practice, I should do it in the local town of Kohama. There were not many general practitioners here who were willing to give me a personal consultation as a primary care physician, and the people in the area would travel to places like Kurashiki and Mizushima to see them. I still hadn't fully conveyed to my junior colleagues what I had learned from my seniors as a general practitioner, and I hadn't yet fully repaid the favor to the university where I had worked. So at first I refused. But when I heard the voice saying that even if I got seriously injured in the evening, I had to get in an ambulance and go to Kurashiki or Tamano City, I decided to start my own practice in this town where I was born and raised."

Please tell us about your journey from being born and growing up in your hometown to opening your own practice.

"The first day of opening, 32 people came in. I took the X-rays myself and also operated the electric therapy machine myself during rehabilitation. There were two nurses, but we had no time to prepare at all and couldn't do even a quarter of what I had planned. The next day, the number of patients dropped to 25. People who waited a long time on their first visit are unlikely to come the next day. This is clearly evident."

The staff, who started with six people, now exceeds 40 people, including day care services, and the number of patients has reached over 300. Since opening 12 years ago, the result has been that the staff have approached their work with seriousness, sincerity, and enthusiasm, and that has resulted in the current situation.

"When I started my practice, I felt the benefits of the organization I had worked for during my medical training. It was thanks to the support of the paramedical staff that I was able to inject myself into patients' knees and take X-rays as if it were nothing special. So I decided that I had to build a hospital that would make patients happy. At first, I gave all the instructions myself, but now the staff are able to come up with their own opinions and move forward together. Each department—rehabilitation, nursing, and administrative—has a leader who listens to their opinions. I often ask the staff for their opinions, and if I listen to them, there is no room for error. The staff are my own treasure and my family."

Over the past 12 years, there are reportedly several staff members who left this place to get married. Both those who send and those who receive said they shed tears as they bid farewell, just as they would do with their own families.

“Treating nearly 300 patients is like fighting every day. The staff gives us their opinions on every step of the process. They are becoming aware that we must protect our own hospital by ourselves. Since the transportation is poor here, there are no trains, and there are only a few buses an hour. Still, patients come on the bus with the intention of staying healthy. Their families also accompany them from their hometown. That’s why the staff works hard too. I haven’t put up any signs, but many people from other cities come here for an hour’s drive, and there are also people from other prefectures. The staff naturally becomes like that because I am sincerely working hard to respond to patients who agree with our approach of exercise therapy. “Honestly working hard” is my credo regarding healthcare.”

Mr. Sakai, who is also a sports doctor, played baseball from third grade to university. "I can't understand the situation of a player unless I play the sport myself. For patients with shoulder or elbow pain, I look at the form before touching the affected area. In many cases, they are throwing with a form that causes joint damage; this can be caused by factors such as stiff hip joints or poor shoulder blade movement. Sports requires not only grit but also scientific analysis. I hear about the reputation and children from the Toyono City sports youth club are coming too. I approach the children in a scientific way. I provide them with sufficient stretching and passive joint movements to create a form that won't cause injury." He hopes that one day the children he taught will go to the Koshien with the Okayama representative team.

Kojima is a city of textiles and also a region with a thriving automotive parts industry. "Many people suffer from back and shoulder pain, and many jobs require specific movements such as ironing, so we need to make fundamental improvements. To improve symptoms, physical therapy is essential. In this context, physical therapy equipment is effective when used in conjunction with physical therapy. By combining these techniques, we achieve a twofold and triple synergistic effect. In particular, the ultrasound waves are very effective." The clinic philosophy is to quickly relieve pain. By taking action early, we can perform physical therapy more quickly and prevent recurrence. Instead of relying solely on medication or injections, they told me that they want to work with the patient together, sweat with them, and treat their patients with their own hands.

Also, regarding the introduction of our equipment, "buying a device is like buying a car or a house. The salesperson's personality is very important. I trust the person in charge of the company. They recommend what I need and I think the products they recommend are good. They respond quickly to any problems that may arise."

Kojima is a region located in the westernmost part of Okayama Prefecture (excluding the island areas), facing the Seto Inland Sea. It covers an area of approximately 80 km² and has a population of about 75,000 people. During the Meiji and early Showa periods, along with the salt-making industry, which had already become the region’s main industry, the textile and sewing industries that had already been established during the Edo period were further modernized in the context of modernization. In the Taisho era, the production of footwears became a national trend, and the products were subsequently diversified into student uniforms, which grew to reach a share of approximately 70% nationwide around 1960. Furthermore, at that time, Japan also began producing jeans for the first time, and today it is home to more than 100 related industries, including companies that specialize in finished products. In recent years, it has also become known for having a base for manufacturers of premium-quality jeans made to order. In terms of tourism, it has become one of the main scenic spots of the Seto Inland Sea National Park and is also the starting point for the main part of the Seto Bridge, which was completed in 1988.