Planning a treatment-focused trip to Kyoto
If osteopathy at a UK-degree standard is part of the reason you are coming to Japan, we can help you plan what that trip looks like.
Kyoto is a city people visit for many reasons — temples, seasons, family, work. A small number of people travel here specifically because they want to be seen by Yusuke Sakata, BSc(Ost), or by Sota Omura, who is working toward the same UK degree. We are not a large medical tourism operation. We are two practitioners, a small clinic in central Kyoto, and a thoughtful way of working that is hard to rush. If you are considering a treatment trip, this page lays out honestly what we can offer, what we cannot, and what a realistic visit looks like.
Usually replies within 2 hours, Mon–Sat 09:00–22:30 JST
Is this you?
This page is written for people who fit roughly this shape. If you don’t, the other pages on our site will serve you better — see the links at the bottom.
This page is for you if:
- You live outside Japan and are considering travel here partly or primarily to be seen at OQ
- You have struggled to find osteopathic care at the BSc(Ost) level where you live
- You want an approach that treats the body as a whole — evolutionary medicine, visceral osteopathy, cranial work, mind and membrane level — rather than a single joint or muscle
- You have read about OQ through our content, our practitioners, or a referral, and it felt like the right shape of help
This page is not for you if:
- You want a quick fix between sightseeing days — see /en/visiting-kyoto/ instead
- You are looking for a spa or wellness experience
- You need treatment for an acute medical emergency — that needs a hospital, not us
- Your situation falls under the decline tier of our pre-visit screening — we will be honest about this early
We are opening this path deliberately
We are writing this page in April 2026. At the time of writing, nobody has yet planned a trip to Kyoto specifically to be treated at OQ. Patients have come to us from around 20 countries over the years, but most were already in Japan — for work, study, family, life — when they found us.
We are opening this path deliberately because we think we are ready. Two BSc(Ost)-level practitioners, our evolutionary medicine work, the EVOST and Mind & Membrain training, the fact that we can hold a long clinical conversation in English about what is happening in your body — these exist. What does not yet exist is a line of people who planned their Kyoto trip around us.
If you would be among the first, we will be straight about that. It does not make the work less good. It means we will not pretend to have a playbook we have not written.
A trip shaped around how the body actually reorganises
A useful treatment trip to OQ is probably not one big session. The body does not reorganise in 60 minutes. It reorganises in the days between sessions — when you walk around Kyoto, sleep, eat, and what we did has time to settle.
A typical shape, if you want one:
| Element | Typical |
|---|---|
| Time in Kyoto | 5–7 days (sometimes combined with travel elsewhere in Japan) |
| Number of sessions | 3–5, spaced with 1–2 days of rest between |
| First session | Detailed history, full evaluation, a gentler first layer of treatment to see how your body responds |
| Middle sessions | Deeper work, based on what the first session showed us |
| Final session | Makes sure what we changed is stable enough for you to travel with |
What we will not do: lock you into a fixed number of sessions before you arrive. Your body will tell us more once we meet it. Some people want two sessions and a quiet week. Some want daily sessions — and for some cases we may think that is not the best call. We decide together.
Regular prices, flexible planning
We thought carefully about whether to offer a fixed treatment-trip package. We decided not to.
Our pricing stays the same as for any patient — Japanese or foreign, local or visiting:
| Session | Duration | Price |
|---|---|---|
| First visit — Yusuke Sakata, BSc(Ost) | 60 min | ¥14,300 |
| Follow-up — Yusuke | 40 min | ¥11,000 |
| Follow-up — Yusuke (longer) | 60 min | ¥16,500 |
| First visit — Sota Omura, PT MSc | 60 min | ¥11,000 |
| Follow-up — Sota | 40 min | ¥8,800 |
A 5-session trip with Yusuke typically lands between ¥56,000 and ¥75,000, depending on session length. These are the actual prices we charge locals, not inflated international-patient pricing.
Why we don’t package it: Your trip to Japan is about more than us. You may change your dates, extend, shorten, add two days in Nara, or respond to how you are feeling mid-week. A fixed package would make that harder for you — and would commit us to sessions that might not be the right call medically. Flexibility is better for both of us.
What is free: The WhatsApp conversation before you book. We will not bill you for the exchange of questions that tells us both whether the trip makes sense.
A short screening saves everyone time and trust
Every international patient who books a first visit goes through a short screening process. This is not bureaucracy. It exists so that:
- We know enough about you to give a safe, useful session
- You know enough about what we can and cannot do, before you buy a plane ticket
- If your situation needs something other than us, we can say so early — before you have travelled across the world
The sensible order if you are planning a trip:
- Message us on WhatsApp with a few sentences about why you are thinking of coming
- We reply within ~2 hours during opening hours and tell you whether we need the questionnaire
- If needed, you fill the questionnaire (about 10 minutes). We read it within 24 hours
- We give you a clear answer: “yes, book normally” / “yes, with these conditions” / “we would need a letter from your doctor first” / “this one is not for us — here is why, and here is where to go instead”
- Only at this point do you book flights and lock dates
Travel is not neutral for a nervous system
Crossing time zones and climates is not a trivial thing for a body. Your nervous system has to renegotiate with a new light cycle, a different humidity, a different set of foods, a different pace. For a system that is already under strain — which is often why people come to see us — the journey itself becomes part of the clinical picture.
We think about this. A session on the day you land is usually not our first choice. A session two or three days in, once your sleep has found somewhere to sit, usually goes better. If your body is reorganising around jet lag, cranial work can be profoundly useful, but only if we are reading the right signal.
If this kind of thinking — the body as one whole, including its recent history of light and sleep and food — is part of why you are considering us, you are in the right place.
Read more on how we think about the body →
A few honest suggestions for where to be based
We are not travel agents, and we will not try to be. For city-scale advice on hotels, neighbourhoods, food, and so on, see our companion page: /en/visiting-kyoto/ →
What matters specifically for a treatment trip:
- We are 2 minutes on foot from Omiya Station (Hankyu Kyoto Line)
- Hotels within 15 minutes on foot include several in the Shijo-Omiya and Nishijin areas
- A flat walk home after a session is often better than a taxi — gentle movement helps the work settle
- Kyoto is walkable. A treatment day plus 6,000 quiet steps is probably ideal; 18,000 shopping steps is probably not
What people usually want to know before writing
Do I need a medical visa?
No. A standard tourist stay is sufficient for the kind of care we provide. We are not a licensed medical-tourism institution in that sense — we are an osteopathy clinic. You enter Japan on your normal tourist permission.
Can my family come with me during sessions?
Yes. We have accommodated partners and young children sitting in. Please let us know in advance so we can arrange the space. A small childcare arrangement is sometimes available during working hours and is discussed case by case.
What if my flight changes and I arrive a day late?
Message us on WhatsApp. Bookings can be moved up to 24 hours before the session without charge. Emergencies after that — stuck at an airport, cancelled flight — we handle case by case. Travel chaos is not something we charge for.
Can I continue working with Yusuke after I go home?
We do not do video-call treatment — osteopathy is a hands-on profession and we will not pretend otherwise. We do answer follow-up messages by email or WhatsApp within reasonable scope, typically for about 3 months after a trip. For deeper follow-up, we encourage either a return visit or a referral to a practitioner near you, which we are happy to think about with you.
Do you see children during treatment trips?
Yes. We see children routinely — infants through teenagers — and a family treatment trip is a shape we have been quietly preparing for. Yusuke holds particular expertise in paediatric and neonatal osteopathy. If this is the shape of your trip, say so in the first message.
What if your screening says no?
Then we say no, and we say why, and where we can point you toward better care we do. There is no charge for the exchange. A trip that would not have helped you is a trip we would rather prevent than take payment for.
How many patients like this do you take?
Honest answer: we are early in opening this path deliberately. For 2026 we are comfortable with perhaps 1–2 treatment trips per month across the two of us. If demand grows we will manage it carefully — we would rather be fully present for a small number of you than rushed across many.
What language will the sessions be in?
English is comfortable for sessions with Yusuke. His English is at a level where nuanced clinical conversation is natural. Sota is working toward the same standard and can handle clinical English for most common presentations. If you need a language other than English or Japanese, please tell us — we will say honestly whether we can manage.
Three steps, in order
1. Message Yusuke on WhatsApp.
A few sentences: who you are, what is going on with you, when you might travel. No need for anything formal.
2. We talk. You fill the screening form if needed.
Most first-visit international patients fill a short pre-visit questionnaire. It takes about 10 minutes. You can do it from anywhere.
3. We tell you whether to book. You book your own trip.
Flights, hotels, dates — that is yours. Our part is being straight with you about whether we are the right next step, before you commit.
+81 90 2046 5348 · replies within ~2 hours, Mon–Sat 09:00–22:30 JST
About OQ → · Our Practitioners → · Visiting Kyoto → · FAQ →