There's a world of difference between the health checkups we get in Japan, and something like a full-body MRI/CT.

You're not arguing in good faith when you equate those.

Are you joking? 人間ドック is absolutely more than a "health checkup". Maybe do some reading: https://medical.kameda.com/general/en/ningendock/what/

> The Ningen Dock is a comprehensive health checkup system that includes a battery of tests, including blood tests, chest X-rays, and ultrasound scans, among others as well as advanced diagnostic tests as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computerized Tomography (CT) or Endoscopy. These tests can help detect potential health problems early before they become more serious or difficult to treat.

That is not the same as the annual mandatory health check.

Maybe your employer pays for you to get a more comprehensive checkup by default and you're unaware of this?

But the ones vast majority of population here gets do not include MRI or CT or Endoscopy.

And, _even then_; specific checkups when you're looking for _specific things_ are still very different things than a full-body MRIs.

I think there’s actually a difference between getting a battery of tests from a set of doctors (overseen by the government) tailored to your risk factors and a company trying to sell a fully body scan which they think you should casually get all the time.

I don't think there's much difference? The technicians that perform the tests are not doctors. You usually see a doc for 5 mins at the end, to discuss any anomalies. Even then, they're just going to refer you to see your GP or a specialist. At the end of the day, the ningendoku is just information that your doctors can access. I'd much prefer a high-resolution full body scan.

Either way, the patient should make the choice about whether they want that info, not an insurance company or a know-it-all armed with a dubious study concluding that asymptomatic conditions are better left undiscovered.

I have thought about your position more and I realize I basically agree. More data isn’t strictly good, but in the right hands it is useful, and that choice should be left to individuals.

Also, it makes sense to me that, as technology improves and becomes cheaper, we should utilize it more. It may take time to come up with the proper process to maximize usefulness and reduce false positives, but it’s the path of progress.

I hope that in the future, humans consider it barbaric that we weren’t aware of things like cancer and tumors at the earliest stages, even if in many cases there’s no treatment necessary.