support groups in japan

I'm canadian living in canada with my japanese wife. My wife has a younger sister that lives in the Tokyo area. She is extremely shy and one of the reasons is that she has a skin condition called atopy (kind of like excema). She is very self conscious about it.

What kind of support are available for her in Japan? Are support groups like AA, OA etc. common in Japan? Does anybody know of excema/atopy support groups or any other related help in the Tokyo area?

There are many support groups and each has its own characteristics, but I used to be a member of Atoppiko Chikyu No Ko when my son's atopy was worse.
http://www.atopicco.org/

The reason I chose this group was because it didn't lean toward any specific doctor or book or religion or what not, and the monthly newsletters that consisted of actual experiences and information from members was extremely practical and informative.

As she may know, there are numerous theories on how to cure atopy and a lot of them contradict to each other, but the group welcomed all types of these theories as information, therefore members were free to choose among those informations. Of course those who have trouble choosing may want to seek a group supporting a certain doctor or theory though.

The group name may sound like it's for children, but a lot of the members are adults patients. There are even celebrity members who suffer from atopy.

It's been years since my son's condition improved and I resigned from the group, so please be sure to update yourselves.

I'm sure that since she has had atopy for a long time, she may be tired of getting various infos after another, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask if she already knows this group.

Btw, I have no idea what AA or OA is but perhaps it's more close to the public health center (hokenjo)? At the hokenjo, any citizen can get almost any kind of support concerning health free of charge. There is one in every ward (ku).

AA = Alcoholics Anonymous, OA = Overeaters Anonymous and there are many more anonymous groups.

Do these exist in Japan?

Thanks for the link Uco, I will forward that to her.

Both Alcoholics Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous seem to have branches in Japan. Just search the names on a Japanese search engine and you'll find their websites.

It seems I caught this a bit late but there are many AA meetings and members around japan. Please check out the Tokyo website www.aatokyo.org