Japan

Overview

Japan lands at #63 of 72 on the Cooked Index — 10th Least Cooked. The clearest fault line runs through healthcare financing: catastrophic health spending (13% face catastrophic health bills) is worse than 76% of countries tracked. Economic policy isn't far behind — income inequality trails 40% of the field. And housing policy rounds out the picture: housing cost burden (22% cost-burdened by housing) sits worse than 26% of countries. Same scoreboard, different departments.

At 15/100, Japan is 12 points below the median of 27 across all 72 countries (higher = more cooked). Where the system is holding up: homicide rate (Homicide 0.2/100k) — better than 99% of countries tracked. Strip away the country name and you're really looking at a healthcare financing problem.

Sources: WHO / World Bank SDG 3.8.2 (2024) · World Bank — Gini Index (SI.POV.GINI) (2018–2022) · OECD Affordable Housing Database (HC1.2) (2024)