Organ Donation and Medical Practices in Modern Japanese Culture

FAIN: FO-252232-17

Amy Borovoy
Princeton University (Princeton, NJ 08540-5228)

Research and writing leading to publication of two articles on the cultural, economic, and ethical issues affecting live organ donation in contemporary Japan.

In technologized societies, traditional moral notions of kinship obligation are being stretched and challenged as medical advances extend life. I seek to explore how imperatives to care for others are being conceptualized and materialized in the context of emerging choices around organ donation and life extension in Japan. Japan is an important site to explore these tensions, a country with the highest per capita rate of people on kidney dialysis in the OECD, and a small yet growing number of citizens living with kidney transplants, mostly received from living donors who are family members. The project seeks to explore medical decision-making and the cultural and social meaning accorded to live kidney donation in the context of the massive business of dialysis in Japan and a system of social welfare that relies heavily on women’s care for family members.

Associated Products

The Exhaustion of the Body After Japan's Economic Expansion: Kidney Failure and Replacement (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: The Exhaustion of the Body After Japan's Economic Expansion: Kidney Failure and Replacement
Author: Amy Borovoy
Abstract: The aging society is going to come at a large cost to Japan. This is a problem around the world, but Japan is a leader. The effects of aging on the body include diabetes, dementia, high blood pressure, kidney and liver failure, cardio-vascular disease, etc. This is a fascinating social experiment: a society that benefited from demography and human resources to become prosperous and cohesive is now getting hit with the other end of the stick! Themes of “expiration" and exhaustion, the impact of humans on earth over 200,00 years are relevant in Japan now. What does it means to care for a nation to care for its people in these circumstances? What ethical implications for medicine and clinical decision-making?
Date: 2/14/2018
Conference Name: East Asian Studies Department Colloquium

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