Today I had to go to the Doctors.  When I woke up I considered not going because I didn’t feel well.  That my sound strange but I wouldn’t normally bother a doctor with something as simple as the common cold.  And given that my throat was sore, my nose was running, and I kept wanting to sneeze I assumed that’s what I had.  I didn’t even have an appointment to cancel, (the surgery charges 5,250 円 (38 GBP, 57 USD) for one), as I had planned to walk in and wait.  In the end I decided to go anyway because I was really keen to get some blood tests out of the way.

I’m not quite sure how long I spent waiting.  Part of the wait was my own fault as I arrived an hour before the end of their lunch break.  And even though I was near the start of the queue they don’t necessarily see people in the order that they arrive.  It was worth the wait as I got to see an experienced doctor who ordered all my blood tests and quite a few more that I wasn’t expecting.  At first I didn’t mention the cold as it has been drummed into me by doctors in the U.K. that colds are not something you should waste a doctor’s time on.  But when the doctor was looking at my file he pointed out that my body temperature now appeared to be normal when before it was slightly too low.

My body temperature appeared normal because I was running a slight fever.  And the doctor then checked my ears, nose, and throat and proclaimed that I had a cold and that he would prescribe medication for this.  He then went on to ask me what my preferences in cold medication were and I told him that I have never been prescribed anything for a cold before.  This made him smile.  He likes the U.K. policy of not visiting a doctor with a cold but told me that in Japan many people prefer to get a prescription from the doctor for this.  I took the prescription.

And now I can tell people that a man who has been a Court physician to the Emperor of Japan treated me for the common cold.