[1] After an early involvement in organ transplantation that was on a par with developments in the rest of the world, attitudes in Japan altered after a transplant by surgeon Juro Wada in 1968 failed, and a subsequent ban on cadaveric organ donation lasted 30 years.
[2] Due to cultural reasons and a relative distrust of modern medicine, the rate of organ donation in Japan is significantly lower than in Western countries.
[5] In the same year, a liver transplant was performed at Chiba University by Professor Komei Nakayama.
[6][8] The Japanese people's views regarding life, death, ethics and religion have influenced their negative attitude toward organ transplanting.
[1] The Shinto religion regards death as impure, and has tainted connotations which have carried through into Japanese culture.