Abstract
The number of kidney transplants in Japan has increased dramatically each year. However, when compared to the United States, the total number of transplant operations performed in japan is quite small. This can be attributed to the fact that most japanese kidney transplant operations involve living related donors. If transplants in Japan (cadaver kidney, heart, and liver) follow a parallel course of development with that of the United States, then Japan will have to deal with important issues such as brain death, developing a transplant network, financial sources to support that transplants, and establish a transplant coordinator system. Organ transplantation is expensive and cannot save everyone who needs an organ. Organ transplantation involves making choices. Making choices will mean dealing with major issues such as who is going to decide who will get an organ? How should transplantation be regarded in relation to other medical treatments? Making choices will inevitably involve ethics. Before we can make difficult decisions about organ transplantation, we should examine our medical ethics.
