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Japan has established a world-leading position in endoscopic medical technology. Endoscopes are advanced medical devices for directly observing the inside of the body, and representative examples include gastroscopes, colonoscopes, and laparoscopes. These technologies have brought about groundbreaking advances in the early detection and treatment of diseases, and Japan has been actively conducting research and development to improve their performance.

The history of the endoscope itself dates back to ancient Greece and Rome, but its development began in Germany at the end of the 19th century. Later, in Japan, in 1950, a doctor from the Department of Surgery at the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Medicine completed the first full-scale gastroscope with the cooperation of Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (now Olympus). This gastroscope had a miniature camera and a miniature lamp at the tip of the flexible tube inserted into the body, and could be remotely controlled from a handheld control unit. However, there were still some shortcomings, and it was not put to clinical use. Then, a group centered around the University of Tokyo that took over the research established the Gastroscope Research Society. Through collaboration between the research society and manufacturers, they worked to develop color film, and in 1960 they developed the V-shaped gastroscope, which became the standard model, and this led to the rapid spread of endoscopes. During this period, fiberscopes appeared, making it possible to transmit images even when the flexible endoscope was bent, allowing doctors to see the lesions in real time. In 1964, a fiberscope-equipped gastroscope with the ability to take photographs also appeared.

Fiberscopes are used to observe the affected area through an eyepiece, but later on, videoscopes (electronic scopes) were developed that allow images to be viewed on a television monitor, and these are now mainstream. The development of CCDs (charge-coupled devices), which can be incorporated into the tips of thin endoscopes, is said to have contributed to the realization of videoscopes. Endoscopic videoscopes, incorporating technology from the United States, appeared in 1985. In the 2000s, there was a trend toward higher image quality and resolution to further improve diagnostic accuracy, and high-definition electronic scopes were introduced. High-definition systems provide higher image quality and quality than conventional systems, and images do not deteriorate even when enlarged, making it possible to observe fine details.

In recent years, advanced endoscopic technology has been developing. Among them, ultrasound endoscopes and capsule endoscopes have been attracting particular attention. Ultrasound endoscopes have a small ultrasound transducer at the tip of the endoscope, and emit ultrasound signals to evaluate the depth of cancer from within the body cavity. On the other hand, capsule endoscopes can be swallowed to examine the digestive tract.

Recently, the combination of endoscopes and artificial intelligence (AI) has been attracting attention. Endoscope AI is a system that uses AI image recognition functions to detect areas suspected of cancer with high accuracy when using an endoscope to examine the stomach or large intestine. It is said that Japan is lagging behind in AI development, but Japan's gastrointestinal endoscopic medical care is of a high standard, and it is easy to collect a wealth of advanced, high-quality data, so it has achieved excellent results in the development of endoscopic AI. In 2019, endoscopic AI for the large intestine was put into practical use for the first time, and in the 2020s, several domestic manufacturers have been launching products on the market one after another, and systems targeting various organs such as the stomach, large intestine, and esophagus have appeared.