Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital, which is located in Ashikaga City of Tochigi Prefecture about 50 miles north from Tokyo, is one of the major teaching hospitals affiliated with Keio University, School of Medicine. Established in 1949, it has evolved rapidly and served not only as a tertial referral center of 614 beds in the region of more than 600,000 population, but also as a major teaching hospital for residency and fellowship programs. 54 staff physicians provide both excellent health care and teaching environment. The program include residency training programs for internal medicine, general surgery, emergency medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology and primary care, all of which are approved by the council of each Japanese board. Fellowships include subspecialty training for neurology, endocrinology, cardiology, pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology, hematology, nephrology, dermatology, geriatric medicine, AIDS, anesthesiology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, thoracic surgery, cardiovascular surgery, plastic surgery and otolaryngology, all of which are also approved by the council of each subspecialty board.

Ashikaga City had developed as the center of textile industry before World War II. In these days industrial reform has been focused on the fabric, metal, mechanical industries. The city, originally established by a member of Ashikaga Shogun in the feudalistic era, has cultivated flavor of typical history and culture of Japan. "Ashikaga Gakko," known for the oldest school in the history of Japan, is in the center of the city and has fascinated a lot of sightseers by historical documents and manuscripts preserved in the library, many of them being among precious national treasures. There are many other visiting spots in the city.