Japanese Medical
I went through the medical exam for a different Japanese contract job, but can not see how it would be any different at JALways. Testing was done in Tokyo, but sometimes at the Mayo Clinic in the US. There is really no way you can prepare for this medical exam except: excercise for several months before hand, do not go jogging for five days before (blood in urine), drink lots and lots of water and only water the days before, do not take any multivitamins the week before, make sure you have a BMI less than 27, and fast for 14 hours prior. The medical does not check your health, it checks to see that you fall within the accepted parameters of the JCAB. These were written by and for Japanese, not that they are looking to disqualify you, they want you to pass, but you must fit within their parameters. For example, (just an example not sure if it is correct) BMI between 21 and 27, not in that range and you are not going to pass. We all know 20 or 28 is healthy too, but you must be inside the parameters. So, that being said their are about 25 medical tests that you have to take and each must be within limits. I can't remember all of the tests but it took about 4 hours. They included eye exams (peripheral, depth perception, color blind, visual, glocoma), blood tests (3 vials), EKG, ECG, EEG, balance test ( stare at a blank wall and stand on a computer platform then close your eyes, the computer goes wild as your balance muscles keep you from falling over), stress test (running on a tread mill with lots of probes on your body), grip test, lung capacity test, etc. Again, the way I passed this test is that I did not try to be superman. I knew I had to fit in the boundaries and did not try to scale off the chart for example on the lung capacity test - they said blow 100% I blew 85%. Several of the tests try to get you to hyperventilate (breathe in and out very fast several times) I only let myself mildly hyperventilate - shallower breaths. This medical just checks that you are a normal Japanese, not overall health. There are marathon runners who failed because too low pulse and people who passed that found out they have cancer. Most Gai-jings (us) have to retake one or two tests at a later date because the results were a little outside the norm. For me it was the peripherial eye exam. No one told me to keep staring at that orange dot, so I never got a good reading. By the way no one speaks very good english at the testing site they give you english directions to read though. Also the nurses are very cute, it helps to try to be friendly so they can help you pass. They will not cheat, but for example on the depth perception test you have to look at a tiny window across the room with three parallel lines in them. The middle line moves back and forth. When the lines are equal depth you click your clicker. However, it was tough and I was just clicking randomly. I had no clue what I was being tested on, the directions were not good. So the nurse took me to the machine and disassembled it so I could see how the thing works inside. After that, it was easy. Don't know how someone could pass without help from the nurses.
Good luck,
BBB
