Become a doctor in Japan for foreigners

Hello to everybody. I'm an italian girl and I attend the first year of medical school here in Italy. I would like to know if, after taking the medical degree in Italy, I could continue my study in Japan with the medical speciality. Obviously I know that it takes a knowledge of japanese language, butin addition to this I would like to know if it's possible and what are the steps to follow. Thank you!

Im not sure entirely on the steps you need to take due to the fact that i am currently trying to get a bachelors degree to work as an English teacher in Japan but like you said a knowledge of Japanese is definitely required fluency more then likely. Sorry to burst your dreams but I have never heard of a Doctor in Japan besides a Japanese person doing the Job. Maybe a nurse but not a Doctor.

There are some foreign doctors here in Japan, and you can do specialty training with your country's medical license, and without a Japanese Medical License. Supposedly they are going to make it even easier for foreigners to study here:

"The clinical training program covers non-Japanese who are licensed as doctors in their own countries but are not qualified to practice in Japan. They are permitted to train and provide medcial services under the guidance of doctors at designated institutions for up to two years."

Here is the whole article:
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110216-2...

Also, they have talked about getting rid of the requirement for foreign doctors to take the Japanese license test:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20100413hn.html

You already said you know that you must be fluent in Japanese to study, so I assume you are taking care of that. Looks like you can do training without the Japanese license, but unless they change the rules, if you want to stay in Japan and practice, you need to pass the license test too. Good luck!

First of all, thak you for the informations! I know in Japan, after medical graduating, you hae to do 2 years of training (not paid), then you have to pass the license test and then you can do the speciality training of 3-4 years (that it would be paid). This is true?
So, you are saying that:
1. I can take medical license in Italy and then I can do the speciality training (the one of 3-4 years) if they will make the procedures for foreigners easier
2. I can take the italian degree, the move to Japan, do the medical license test, and then I can do the speciality training.
Is it true? Sorry if I ask it again but I'm not sure I understood, as in Italy it's a little bit different!
However, I know that I have to take JLPT 1 to do the medical license test... but I'm already trying to study japanese! Thanx again!

I am not sure, but you should check with your medical school in Italy, they might even know some foreign study medical scholarships that can help pay for your training.
From what I gather, you only need to take the Japanese license test if you want to practice medicine on your own in Japan. The article said that you can provide medical care and do your training under the supervision of a University program as long as you have a medical doctor degree from your country.
I don't know the maximum of study time allowed in Japan, I think it depends on the program and University, the article said the standard program is 2 years.
What I have noticed though, is that the foreign program is very competitive, they only accept a few people for study, and the application process can take some time. It appears that there are many disciplines to choose from, so it is best if you know what specialty you want to get into, and then apply to that department.
Do an internet search for foreign programs at Japanese medical schools, I found this one in Tokyo with a quick search:
http://www.juntendo.ac.jp/english/med_e/student07.html
I'm sure you can find lots of info on the University websites. Like I said, ask your school too, they might have more info than you expect!

Thank you again for informations, I try to contact japanese university and I'll go to mine to ask for this.
But I was asking: what about medical research in Japan? If I decided not to become a doctor but a medical researcher, what are the step to follow? Here in italy we have (after graduating) the doctoral school, I think in Japan is almost the same, isn't it? But in Italy the research is not very good (research is not incentivized and researchers are underpaid), how about Japan? Is difficult to enter a graduate research school (for example neuroscience school) and then find a work?