Compared to other advanced countries, the field of mental health in Japan is characterized by a large hospitalized to general population ratio and a long mean hospitalization period. This is in large part attributable to the lack of appropriate housing as well as occupational recreational centers after discharge. At the same time the education of psychiatric medical staff has focused on the hospital environment, with little attention devoted to training at centers of community mental health. This hospital-dominant approach has been difficult to shed, and has persisted since the WHO report of Dr. Clark in 1968. Paralleling the introduction of the certified doctor system, at the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology recently, the manner of postgraduate training for psychiatrists and attempts to reform it were debated. In the midst of this debate, a consensus has emerged that study of community mental health is one of the minimum requirements to become a full-fledged psychiatrist. However, no adequate community mental health training programs have been established at any institution. At Nara Medical University hospitals, considerable weight has been placed on community mental health training, with such a training program designed and put into practice. In the present report, this training program is introduced and interim results reported, and the problems associated with community mental health training are discussed.