RESUMO
1) Japanese clinical research and population-based medicine have different origins and have lived separate lives. After 100 years of mutual isolation, their paths are about to cross.<BR>2) Clinical research is not confined to clinical trials and translational research, but covers a wider area that includes outcomes research, economic evaluation, and studies of the quality of care.<BR>3) Government policymakers very recently turned their attention to clinical research, and set up administrative schemes to provide large-scale funding.<BR>4) However, unlike the US, Japan cannot catch this wave because it does not have the necessary intellectual infrastructure of trained clinical investigators.<BR>5) Population-based medicine and clinical research have similar emphases and core values. Both are concerned with measuring frequencies, with socially relevant outcomes, and with the impact of research on clinical practice and health policy.