I was about to pay for my daughter’s checkup fee after her visit to her paediatrician the other day when the two receptionists bowed and said “申し訳ございませんでした” (Moushiwake gozaimasen deshita/we are terribly sorry for our grave error), that phrase for apology that the Japanese reserve for terrible errors/mistakes. Surprised and baffled, I waited for their explanation. It turned out that they made an error in the fee they charged us during our last visit – TWO MONTHS AGO. So now they are returning the excess amount I payed. The delta? Only ¥370, roughly equivalent to three bottled drinks.

And just in case I didn’t get their explanation right (doctor and nurses speak English but the receptionists do not), they gave me a memo so I can show it to my husband.

Amazed. As I always say, if someone’s dependable on small things, you could count on them to be dependable on big things too.

The clinic was not named after a person since the doctor herself is not named Yui. Rather, Yui here refers to the meaning of the kanji itself which is “bind”. The clinic aims to be a bind in connecting the community even closer.