Kirk here. While surely not as common as in the U.S., it seems that there are medical malpractice lawsuits in Japan too. This case is about something that occurred at Kumamoto City Hospital (Kumamoto Shimin Byouin). This hospital was severely damaged in the 2016 earthquakes and has since been rebuilt in a new location (see picture). However, it has also been in the news over noise associated with the demolition of the old hospital. The impact of the noise on local residents has been so bad that demolition has been put on hold and not yet resumed (at least, not as far as I know). Another issue with this hospital has been failure to collect a huge amount in unpaid medical bills.