Music therapy may be described as psychotherapy using music. Through music, the therapist shares something with a patient that can not be expressed in words, thus helping the patient progress while increasing the power of self healing and improving the quality of life. This is generally the case in artistically centered therapy. In this paper, I survey the present status, history, forms and objectives of music therapy in Japan, presenting the latest research on the effectiveness of music therapy for people with dementia and terminal patients, and describing the methods of music therapy in these areas.