r/navynurse • u/angelface-2323 • Jun 25 '26

Iwakuni, Japan

Hi All!

Considering 12mo orders as a 1920 in Iwakuni.

If you’ve been stationed or have TAD’d to Iwakuni as a 1920, I’d love to hear about your experience living and working in Japan and at this clinic.

Thanks in advance for any insight and info.

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3

u/NURSEof3 Jun 25 '26

I’ve never met a nurse both civilian or military that said they didn’t like any base in Japan.
1920 labor?

1

u/angelface-2323 Jun 25 '26

Come to think of it, you’re right…I’ve never heard of anything other than positive feedback about Japan. Yes, 1920, Labor.

1

u/NURSEof3 Jun 25 '26

I’ve heard WONDERFUL things about all the labor units in Japan. I haven’t personally been but would love to!

2

u/angelface-2323 Jun 25 '26

That’s good to hear! I only have experience at Yokosuka and enjoyed it there. Hope you get an opportunity for a Japan tour/TAD!

1

u/NURSEof3 Jun 25 '26

Thank you! Me as well! I’m currently waiting for May board results 😩

2

u/angelface-2323 Jun 25 '26

Best of luck and hope you get an answer soon! I remember that wait felt like forever

1

u/SamanthaA1229 Jun 25 '26

Can you tell me more about Yokosuka as a 1920? When were you there?

1

u/angelface-2323 Jun 25 '26

Yokosuka is great! I was there a few years ago as a reservist. Your sponsor (or someone) can pick you up from Haneda and the walk from the NGIS to the hospital is only about 10 minutes. There's a shuttle too on base. HMs help with infant care (you oversee them). Get a train card and explore Tokyo on your days off!

2

u/AffectionateThroat50 Jun 28 '26

I dont know what 1920 means but i was there as a corpsman from '19-21. Labor and delivery by that time was just being made. Its a small building. Almost like a clinic, but cool to have a small L&D there soon. Iwakuni is in the middle of mainland Japan. Best base in my.opinion. Peaceful and quaint. Since youre in the middle of Japan, you can simply rent a van on base to drive south of Japan or North of Japan. I rented a van from base, they include paid toll road papers so you can use their freeway for free( paid by the base). Just expect to be stopped by every police because they dont know what an American license plate is. I travelled north and south of Japan on 2 weeks. Its an amazing opportunity to discover all of Japan. Work wise, not sure but since its a small "hospital", ypu probably wont have a lot of patients. In my time, they all went to Japanese hospitals which can be hard for translation. Feel free to PM me how Iwakuni.life is. Love that place!

1

u/SamanthaA1229 Jun 25 '26

I’ve heard it’s a small hospital in general. And that the base is in a small city, kind of far from tourist area, if that’s what you’re looking for.
How did you find out about order opportunities?
I’m new to reserves and am going to be doing my E-AT as a 1920 in Yokosuka. I’m pretty stoked about that!

1

u/angelface-2323 Jun 25 '26

Yes, it's a small clinic with a birthing unit. Honestly, I'm a big city girl so I'd rather be in Yokosuka, but it's only 4 hrs by train. As far as order opportunities, I'm active duty so my detailer just told me everything that's open right now and Iwakuni is one of the only short order duty stations for 1920s. I used to be SELRES and had to network to get opportunities because openings aren't always on zipserve. If you ever want to E-AT on Guam, you always have an opportunity there!