Head of Japanese nonprofit arrested for facilitating illegal organ transplants abroad.

On February 7, 2021, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested Hiromichi Kikuchi, the head of the Intractable Disease Patient Support Association, for allegedly violating Japan’s organ transplant law. Kikuchi’s organization had been acting as an intermediary service for Japanese patients needing organ transplants to go to China, Central Asia, and Eastern European countries to receive transplants without the Japanese government’s approval. According to Japanese media reports, Kikuchi’s organization had linked approximately 180 patients to six countries, including China and Kyrgyzstan. Japan’s organ transplant law prohibits organ trafficking and mediation in arranging transplants not authorized by the government. Violators are punished with imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to 1 million yen (about $7,500), or both. Hundreds of documents seized by police in the case revealed a roster of about 150 patients who sought help from Kikuchi’s organization. This is believed to be the first case in Japan involving overseas organ transplants that has been filed on suspicion of unlicensed intermediary activities. China was the primary target country for organ transplants from June 2017 to May 2019. During this period, 19 out of 29 documented Japanese patients mediated through the organization received organ transplants in China. This is a typical case of organ transplant tourism, in which recipients go to countries where the vulnerable and impoverished serve as sources of organs and an intermediary organization plays a role. The international community has become aware of the large-scale forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China, which has been perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party. The Japan Transplant Tourism Consideration Association was established in 2016 and certified by the Cabinet Office of Japan in 2019. The organization’s purpose is to prevent Japanese people from going to China for illegal organ transplants and to raise awareness of this issue among politicians, the medical and legal circles, as well as the general public. On February 7, 2021, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested Hiromichi Kikuchi, the head of the Intractable Disease Patient Support Association, for allegedly violating Japan’s organ transplant law. Kikuchi’s organization had been acting as an intermediary service for Japanese patients needing organ transplants to go to China, Central Asia, and Eastern European countries without the Japanese government’s approval. Documents seized by police revealed a roster of about 150 patients who sought help from Kikuchi’s organization. This is believed to be the first case in Japan involving overseas organ transplants that has been filed on suspicion of unlicensed intermediary activities. China was the primary target country for organ transplants from June 2017 to May 2019. During this period, 19 out of 29 documented Japanese patients mediated through the organization received organ transplants in China. This is a typical case of organ transplant tourism, in which recipients go to countries where the vulnerable and impoverished serve as sources of organs and an intermediary organization plays a role. The international community has become aware of the large-scale forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China, which has been perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party. To prevent such situations from happening in the future, the Japan Transplant Tourism Consideration Association was established in 2016 and certified by the Cabinet Office of Japan in 2019. The organization’s purpose is to prevent Japanese people from going to China for illegal organ transplants and to raise awareness of this issue among politicians, the medical and legal circles, as well as the general public.