BACKGROUND: Recently, arts and health activities have been introduced into health care, and evidence of their effectiveness has been accumulating. However, few studies have examined this subject in Japan. METHODS: In this practice-based report, faculty of a Japanese school of medicine and a university of arts and design collaborated to explore the effectiveness of an arts and health approach in three different patient safety educational programs implemented in different university hospitals in Japan. RESULTS: The results of the programs demonstrated the effectiveness of integrating arts and health into patient safety management. CONCLUSIONS: Additional research is required to understand this further.