# Dr. Koto's Clinic

Dr. Koto's Clinic (Japanese: Dr.コトー診療所, Hepburn: Dokutā Kotō Shinryōjo) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takatoshi Yamada. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Young Sunday from 2000 until the magazine's demise in 2008, at which point it moved to Big Comic Original. Shogakukan has compiled its chapters into 25 tankōbon volumes as of June 2010.
The series was adapted as a Japanese television drama series which aired between 2003 and 2006 on Fuji TV. A live-action film adaptation premiered in 2022.
By June 2022, Dr. Koto's Clinic had over 12 million copies in circulation. In 2004, the manga won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award for the general category.

## Plot

Kensuke Goto is an excellent doctor who used to work at a university hospital in Tokyo, but for some reason he is transferred to a clinic on the remote island of Koshikijima. The island has been without a doctor for three months, and he was not very welcomed. In addition, Ayaka Hoshino, a nurse who has been on the island for 4 months, tells him that there are few patients who come to the clinic, and even if they do, they will only receive first aid and then go to a hospital on the mainland, which takes 6 hours by boat. Since then, Goto has earned the trust of the islanders through the treatment of many patients and his personality.

## Characters
### Kensuke Goto (五島健助, Gotō Kensuke)

    Portrayed by: Hidetaka Yoshioka
    A young, prominent surgeon, who left a prestigious hospital in Tokyo and moved to an isolated island in the southern part of Japan. He works at a clinic there as the only doctor on the island. He was not necessarily welcomed by the islanders first as they had negative experience with former doctors at the clinic. But with his sincere attitude toward the patients and commitment to his work, Kensuke gradually developed good rapport with his patients. "Koto", his nickname, was given to him by Takehiro Hara when he made a sign for the clinic after operating on him, and written Koto instead of Goto. He has a habit of only eating cup noodles, even when Hoshino brings him a homemade bento. He tend to get motion sickness when on vehicles, and would often vomit after riding a vehicle, often on Hoshino.

### Ayaka Hoshino (星野彩佳, Hoshino Ayaka)

    Portrayed by: Kou Shibasaki
    Nurse at Dr. Koto's clinic

### Kazunori Wada (和田一範, Wada Kazunori)

    Portrayed by: Toshio Kakei
    A staff member at the clinic

### Shigeo Ando (安藤重男, Andō Shigeo)

    Portrayed by: Shigeru Izumiya
    The leader of the fishermen on the island. He is distrustful of Dr. Koto, often calling him a "quack" doctor.

### Takehiro Hara (原健裕, Hara Takehiro)

    Portrayed by: Ryo Tomioka
    A boy who respects Dr. Goto and wants to be a doctor. He used to not trust doctors who come to the island like the rest of the islanders because a doctor's misdiagnosis caused the death of his mother. After having to had emergency surgery performed on him by Dr. Koto, he began to trust and respect Dr Koto, to the point where he wants to become a doctor like him.

### Taketoshi Hara (原剛利, Hara Taketoshi)

    Portrayed by: Saburō Tokitō
    Fisherman and Takehiro's father. Like the other islanders at first, he did not welcome Dr. Koto because his wife had died due to a misdiagnosis from a previous doctor that was assigned to the island. After Dr. Koto helped to operate on his son, Takehiro Hara, and saved his life, he became one of the biggest supporter of Dr. Koto. He would always take Dr. Koto's side when the other islanders would go against him and would always include Dr. Koto in island activities.

### Shōichi Hoshino (星野正一, Hoshino Shōichi)

    Portrayed by: Kaoru Kobayashi
    A worker at the Town Office

## Media
### Manga

Written and illustrated by Takatoshi Yamada, Dr. Koto's Clinic serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Young Sunday from 2000 to 2008; when the magazine ceased its publication, it was to the publisher's Big Comic Original magazine. The manga went on indefinite hiatus in October 2010. In October 2017, Yamada posted on his Facebook that he planned to resume his work. Shogakukan has compiled its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was published on November 4, 2000. As of June 30, 2010, twenty-five volumes have been released.

#### Volumes

| No. | Japanese release date | Japanese ISBN |
| 1 | November 4, 2000 | 978-4-09-152501-7 |
| 2 | March 5, 2001 | 978-4-09-152502-4 |
| 3 | July 5, 2001 | 978-4-09-152503-1 |
| 4 | October 5, 2001 | 978-4-09-152504-8 |
| 5 | March 5, 2002 | 978-4-09-152505-5 |
| 6 | June 5, 2002 | 978-4-09-152506-2 |
| 7 | September 5, 2002 | 978-4-09-152507-9 |
| 8 | December 5, 2002 | 978-4-09-152508-6 |
| 9 | March 5, 2003 | 978-4-09-152509-3 |
| 10 | July 5, 2003 | 978-4-09-152510-9 |
| 11 | October 5, 2003 | 978-4-09-153121-6 |
| 12 | December 26, 2003 | 978-4-09-153122-3 |
| 13 | April 5, 2004 | 978-4-09-153123-0 |
| 14 | July 5, 2004 | 978-4-09-153124-7 |
| 15 | October 5, 2004 | 978-4-09-153125-4 |
| 16 | February 4, 2005 | 978-4-09-153126-1 |
| 17 | August 5, 2005 | 978-4-09-153127-8 |
| 18 | December 5, 2005 | 978-4-09-153128-5 |
| 19 | May 2, 2006 | 978-4-09-151078-5 |
| 20 | October 5, 2006 | 978-4-09-151123-2 |
| 21 | February 5, 2007 | 978-4-09-151159-1 |
| 22 | February 5, 2008 | 978-4-09-151269-7 |
| 23 | September 30, 2009 | 978-4-09-151474-5 |
| 24 | October 30, 2009 | 978-4-09-151475-2 |
| 25 | June 30, 2010 | 978-4-09-151495-0 |

### Drama

The manga was adapted into a Japanese television drama which aired for eleven episodes on Fuji TV from July 3 to September 11, 2003. It was filmed on the Japanese Archipelago island Yonaguni. A 2-episode special was broadcast on November 12 and 13, 2004. A second season aired for eleven episodes from October 12 to December 21, 2006.
Crunchyroll began streaming the series in 2015. Netflix began streaming the series in 2025.

### Live-action film

A live-action film adaptation, with Hidetaka Yoshioka reprising his role as Kensuke Goto, was distributed by Toho and premiered in Japan on December 16, 2022.

## Reception

By June 2022, Dr. Koto's Clinic had over 12 million copies in circulation. In 2004, the manga won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category.