It looks like Japan has a new plan for economic growth, the Medical Visa for foreigners need long-term medical care. The new visa is mainly aimed at luring rich Chinese patients.

"The government is considering creating a "medical visa" system for foreigners keen on receiving high-quality long-term medical treatment in Japan, senior government officials said Monday.The government wants to attract wealthy sufferers of a range of ailments in China and other Asian countries to Japan, so that the nation's medical industry can cash in on such patients, the officials said.The government intends to integrate the visa idea into a package of economic growth policies it plans to draw up possibly by the end of June, they said.The health ministry has also proposed allowing foreign taxpayers in Japan to use the medical insurance system into which they have paid premiums in their own countries, in cases where they opt to receive medical services at Japanese hospitals, they added."

Click here for more.By the way, it seems like Japan is following Korea's lead:

"The government estimates that about 25,000 foreign patients used Korean hospitals last year. Most of them were here on a C3 or short-stay tourist visa that allows them to stay in the country for up to three months. But some of have to stay for more than a year to receive treatment for cancer or cardiac diseases. The Justice Ministry in April last year added "medical treatment" to the category of the G1 visa (other than diplomatic, tourist and work visas). But almost no foreigners have applied for such a visa so far."

Read more about Korea's medical visa here.[ad#468x60-ad]