Development and Organization of Death and Life Studies
ICHINOSE Masaki (Leader of the G-COE Death and Life Studies Program,
Department of Philosophy)

2

Beginning in March 2010, I was named leader (andsuccessor to our former leader, Professor Susumu
Shimazono) of the Global COE Development andSystemization of Death and Life Studies program.
Although our project has only two years left, I
hope, based on our prior efforts, to continue what wehave hitherto accomplished and to see our project
reach a fruitful conclusion.
As directly evinced by our past endeavors, Deathand Life Studies is an attempt at creating a new
cross-disciplinary academic field. While based on thefundamental insights of the humanities (i.e.,
philosophy, ethics, religious studies, sociology), ourpedagogical and research activities have developed
through the mutual permeation between thehumanities and such varied disciplines as medicine,
nursing sciences, life sciences, legal studies (law),and educational studies.
Of course, as the title Death and Life Studies
indicates. and although we are unified in our attempt
at investigating the problems posed by death andlife and their mutual connection. the ways inwhich we problematize and broach these issues ishighly varied.
Inquiry from the perspective of the principles andthought patterns found at the normative level of
discourse on death and life, and through theapproach of pursuing the meaning of this discourse
at the historical and cultural level (and also from thestandpoint of various issues found at the practicaland clinical level) we have problematized Death andLife Studies from a range of perspectives, andsought to clarify these issues to the utmost degree.
Specifically, the question of medical decisionmaking; the problem of psychiatry and criminal
responsibility; eugenics; mortuary practices; bioethics
and end of life care; the meaning of death and life in
the myriad religions; the war dead and those who

suffered an untimely fate; continuing education for
medical practitioners; the issue of grief work; animal
ethics; and so forth are all examples of topics that wehave dealt with or are currently attempting toaddress.
In the future, we hope, with further resolve, tocontinue our educational and academic programs
while expanding our multi-faceted approach to deathand life.
Simultaneously, we must emphasize that thisproject is Death and Life Studies [i.e., it is anacademic discipline]. In being an academic discipline.
or at least in aiming to become one. Death and Life
Studies must not be limited to the dimension of
simply expressing personal views on death and life,
marshaling data, [claiming that death and life can be
simply understood through, say,] the performance of
meditative experience, and so on.
It is vital that we establish logical and rational
arguments based on objective and empiricalevidence. Further, and of most import, is the fact
that, no matter how ultimately broad, we must
create unique methods of inquiry and develop
conditions and criterion for the establishment of
Death and Life Studies as an academic discipline. In
reality, there is no absolute and unchanging space ofdemarcation for a given academic discipline. Rather,
it is natural that disciplines slowly change based on
temporal conditions and social situations. If so, it isgreatly anticipated that Death and Life Studies,
which we aim to establish, will gain autonomy as atrue academic discipline in the near future. When wecome to see the dawn of this new discipline, justwhat kind of academic environment will emerge.
Eager to fulfill such expectations, we are further
determined to concentrate on our educational andresearch activities and, step by step, advance ourdiscipline.

Publications

DALS Research Seminar with young scholars

Legal Responses to Terminal Care Issues
HIGUCHI Norio (Faculty of Law, Anglo-American Law)

In courses on bioethics and law held in US law
schools, the myriad of bioethical issues that weface during our life are broached. In particular,
problems concerning end-of-life care are a major
topic. Furrow et. al., Bioethics 1-5(5 th ed., West2004), a representative case book, begins bypresenting the following hypo.

At 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, you, as legal
counsel for a 300-bed for-profit hospital, receive atelephone call from a physician, Dr. Smith, asking
your advice. For some time she has been caring
for 37-year-old man, Mr. Jones, who is in the latestages of lung cancer which has metastasized tohis bones. Dr. Smith predicts that Mr. Jones may
live for another month or so if treatment is
continued. Treatment consists of chemotherapy(administration of drugs which slow the growthand spread of the cancer), and pain medication(injection of moriphine which reduces, although
does not eliminate, the pain Mr. Jones experiences).
Mr. Jones also has a pacemaker to regulate hisheart beat. Dr. Smith has just admitted Mr. Jones tothe hospital, and Mr. Jones makes a request that hehas made repeatedly in the past. Specifically, Mr.
Jones requests that all chemotherapy be stopped
and that the pacemaker be deprogrammed
immediately, so that his heart will malfunction andcause his death in a very short time. Dr. Smith hastalked at length with Mr. Jones about his request
and she is convinced that the patient is clear,
determined and consistent in his wishes.

As this is a law school case book, future lawyers
are the main audience. This is the first topic for
discussion (in the first class) of bioethics and law
for them: How, as a lawyer, would you face sucha situation? What kind of advice would you give tothe doctor?
There are two kinds of legal approaches to thisproblem. The first approach―which is what many
Japanese lawyers traditionally do―is to attempt to
examine legal solutions for such a situation.
Somewhere out there, the law exists. But it is thenconcluded in Japan that although there is no clear
law on the subject, the intentional removal of apacemaker may be analogous to removing
artificial breathing apparatuses, and may be withrisk of a charge of murder. Maybe, maybe, butwhen doctors hear this, they have no recourse fortaking risk. They are threatened by the lawyer's
advice or warning.
The second approach is to think of a custommade legal approach for Mr. Jones. In the USA

the question of what to do in such a legal case has
been continually debated. Such legal cases haveperiodically occurred, and today medical ethics
committees are attempting to find some sort ofsolution. Such ethics committees are comprised not
only of doctors and nurses but also of legal
specialists, religious leaders, ethicists, and membersof the general public. What is debated is not the
ethicality of terminating medical treatment ingeneral terms, but deciding exactly what is bestfor Mr. Jones. And this, it is considered, is the reallaw.
In fact, according to the casebook mentioned
above, the lawyer advises the doctor to refer thiscase to the ethics committee. The editors of thecasebook in law conclude that Mr. Jones would be
fortunate and satisfied with this kind of advice
given by the lawyer.
Two points can be gleaned from this case. First,
the role of law or lawyers is modest andrestrained. Also, their advice is not ex post innature, that is, if you do this the law may give youa sanction, in this case, a charge of murder, but ex
ante, that is to give advice to solve your problem
by submitting the case to an ethics committee, asort of due process for issue solving. In U.S. thelawyers do not threaten the doctor. Their advice is
to exhaust all possible means in an a priori andmannered fashion. The law is not like the assassin
cutting one from behind, but ethically exists to
help the practitioner and patient who findthemselves in a bind. It is a form of problem
resolution.
Second, and in an important relation to the firstpoint, the concrete law which has been applied
to doctor and patient does not suddenly come fromon-high or from the outside. The law thatemerges is that which is appropriately applied tothe particular patient, that which seeks to find thebest resolution for him or her. Further, such a law
is not only for Mr. Jones but, in effect, will act as aprecedent for those patients who may someday
find themselves in a similar situation. Imagine thatyou are Mr. Jones. Would you like to accept somekind of law or solution concerning your end-of-lifecare based on a majority vote by the generalpublic?
This is not simply an overblown question on
Japanese views of death and life concerningterminal care. What is at stake is how individuals―
who must die as individuals―should face death,
how society should address such issues, and whatkind of law such a society should have. We should
seriously reconsider the role of law in the deathissues in Japan, and maybe in other bioethicalissues as well.

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The Death of Zoo Animals
KINOSHITA Naoyuki (Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Cultural Resources Studies)

Let's go to a zoo in a different town! This is what
people think when they suddenly realize that they only
visit zoos in towns they know, or rather in their town ofresidence.
The reason for the fact that one only visits the zoo of
one's own town is apparent. A zoo is a place to which
one is taken by one's parents as a child and then brings
one's own children when one has become a parent
oneself. To overcome this barrier and to go and visit azoo in a different town is fun, but also a lot of hassle.
Are you, dear reader, aware of how many zoos there
are in Japan? The answer to this question is actually
unclear. This is because facilities are not forced to callthemselves zoos, and there are a number of zoos
that do not go by this name.
There are eighty-nine facilities alone that are
members of the Japanese Association of Zoos andAquariums. I have so far visited about a third of these.
The main objective of my research trips is to see how
the animals are exhibited, and how the zoos differ basedon their historical and regional specificities. However, I
am also interested in what happens to the zoo animals
after death.
When handed a map upon entering a zoo, I first checkfor the existence and location of a memorial for the
consolation of the souls of deceased zoo animals. Mostzoos do not mark the existence and location of these on
their maps, as they primarily do not exist to be seen byvisitors.
In rare cases will a zoo not have such a memorial atall. Yokohama Municipal Zoo (Eurasia) and Asa
Zoological Park in Hiroshima reject such memorials. In
the case of the zoo in Hiroshima, the management fearedthat holding memorial services would lead to thehumanization of animals.
In a lot of cases, the memorials are located in areas of
the zoo not accessible to visitors. For example, Chiba
Zoological Park or the Hamamatsu Zoological Park
belong to this group of zoos. In the case of the former,
the memorial was located on premises accessible only tozoo staff, while in the latter case, the memorial was
located forlorn in some bushes. When I attempted toread the inscription I fell victim to a vicious swarm ofmosquitoes.
Also, there is a huge variety among those memorials
visible to visitors, ranging from one's covered in floral
offerings to those that have been completely abandoned.
A prime example for the former case are the Ueno
Zoological Gardens, where the memorial dedicated to thespirits of deceased zoo animals is located right after themain gate, and is not only covered in such floral
offerings, but also a large number of folded paper
cranes. These have been made and offered by pre-schooland elementary school children and are frequently
accompanied by written wishes for peace. This practiceis rooted in the story of the killing of zoo animals during
the war as recounted in the popular picture book
Faithful Elephants.

4

On the other hand, the vast number of memorials israther inconspicuous. The one at the Wakayama
Zoological Park was most difficult to find even after
having received directions from a zoo employee. The
same employee told me that before, the zoo would call ina Buddhist monk and hold memorial ceremonies, butthat this practice had long ceased as was apparent fromthe dilapidated state of the memorial.
There are probably many reasons why a memorial
falls into disrepair, but the influence of the separation ofstate and religion determined by the constitution is amajor factor. This is because most zoos are facilities run
by local governments and their hands are bound inregard to holding memorial services.
There are four ways in which this situation can be
dealt with. First, to reduce the religious nature of theceremony by turning it from a service consoling thespirits of the deceased animals as is quite common into asecular thanksgiving ceremony presided over by the zoo
director. The term consoling the spirits (irei ) has to be
avoided in this case. Secondly, to have the service
organized by another party. Third, to hold these services
secretly and only among zoo employees, who also fundthe ceremony with their own money. Fourth, to nothave any ceremony at all.
In recent times, it has become popular to display aphoto of the deceased animal in their enclosure, as
would be the case if a human had died. This shows ashift from collective memorial services to individual
services, but also presupposes that the animals have all
been given their own individual names. However, giving
animals names is the first step towards humanization.
Despite these cases of humanization, I believe thatzoos have retained the possibility to think about thedeath of the vast majority of animals that have notundergone humanization. Zoos, created as facilities forthe display of live animals, have shunned to display
death. The media one-sidedly focuses on the birth ofanimals, and zoo animals are not provided with live food
before the eyes of visitors.
However, in recent years, zoos are expanding toincorporate domestic animals as they increasingly turninto places to contemplate the relationship between
humans and animals. In this sense, is it not impossible toignore the fact that humans live by eating animals when
visiting a zoo? After all, livestock is born and killed forthis purpose.
During the last summer break, I visited the Toyama
Municipal Family Park together with students of mine.
This zoo, which does not call itself by that name, has
shifted its focus from a place displaying rare foreign
animals to one that centers on learning about everyday
animals.
Within the facility, there are even barbecue spots. Of
course, we did not eat any of the livestock animals, buteating together with the zoo employees, I thought thatthe day of contemplating eating culture in a zoo is
probably not so far away.

Look at the Label carefully before you take the Pills
ISHIURA Shoichi (Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Molecular Cognitive Sciences)

Everyone agrees with the conclusion that when
we face death what is of most important ismedicine. Let me introduce a story about medicine.
When we all have a cold or a headache we takemedicine labeled as acetaminophen. This isparacetamol, the component of ÑTylenol and also
what is in traditional medicine from Toyama
prefecture. Unless you are an absolute opponent ofWestern medicine, you will believe your doctor's
advice and the television commercials and takethis. However, there are few people who can
explain how acetaminophen is different from
ibuprofen or aspirin such as ÑKerorin, ÑBufferin,and ÑSEDES.
The answer is simple: unlike the fever-reducing
acetaminophen, which does not contain antiinflammatory properties, ibuprofen and aspirin
have an anti-inflammatory effect. Further, as they
have an anti-coagulative effect as well, they irritate
the stomach and intestines and cause stomachache by reducing gastric mucus. We all know
about inflammation. In throat inflammation,
prostaglandin E2 is locally synthesized, which inturn causes neuralgia and increases blood flow.
This then leads to increased sensations of pain,
blushed skin, and swelling. This is the same withmuscle inflammation as well.
Aspirin and ibuprofen are known asnonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
and are currently popular products. Everyone
knows about pain relief medication, and that
ibuprofen is contained in products like IBsomething or something-IP. In NSAIDS,
indomethacin, which works well for inflammation,
is a well-known drug; And yet, as it has a negative
effect on the stomach when taken orally. It can
only be administered transdermally.
Above, I mentioned that prostaglandin E2 isrelated to thermogenesis. This [compound] is madefrom arachidonic acid which is an unsaturated
fatty acid. Oxygenation, which is the first step of
prostaglandin synthesis, is mediated by COX(cyclooxygenase). Aacetaminophen, aspirin, andibuprofen all manifest their efficacy throughblocking COX.
Now, a talk about money. It has been discoveredthat there are two kinds of COX in the humangenome. COX1 is that which is constantly
expressed in human cells. COX2 is specifically
expressed in inflammatory tissues. A competitive
search has begun to see if there is a special kind of
drug that works on COX2. Rofecoxib (marketed asÑVioxx), which brought in some 250 billion
dollars on an annual basis, was taken off themarket because of concerns of increased
cardiovascular risks.
While this search was being conducted, NSAIDs
began to draw attention from a different

perspective. Anti-inflammatory NSAIDs are greatly
used for patients with rheumatism and Hansen'sdisease. Attention is now focused on the fact thatthese patients have very few cognitive disorders.
NSAIDS help cognitive disorders! Tests withthousands of participants began and, sure enough,this effect was confirmed. Among these products,
aspirin and ÑVoltaren are included.
Let me ask a question. How much medicine do
you think people consume? It's been discoveredthat a great deal of drug-produced urine fills theGreat Lakes. Notably, anti-depressants (which
don't decompose well) and anti-inflammatory
drugs (which many people consume) are the issue.
There is even the story of how in a certain
country, diclofenac (try looking up the productname) has been spread throughout theenvironment and is causing rare birds to become
extinct. The Japanese Health, Labour and Welfare
Ministry, in order to prevent metabolic disorders,has presented this good-sounding slogan: Exercise,a healthy diet, no smoking, and, finally, medicine.
Let's all say this together as we live our lives.

5Inheritance of the Right of Protection in Islamic Law
YANAGIHASHI Hiroyuki (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Humanities andSocial Sciences, Department of Islamic Studies)

Generally, property is inherited from parent tochild, and from child to grandchild. However, inmany traditional societies, property (alongside othermaterial as well as immaterial assets) is inherited
along the paternal ancestral line. In these instances,the property is not thought to be possessed in the
narrow sense by the members of a single
generation, but the current generation is rather
thought of as a caretaker that receives thisproperty from the previous generation and passes it
on to the next generation. Islam almost completely
abandoned this approach to inheritance, but in thelone instance of the right of protection (wala' ), thisidea of inheriting a right along the paternal
ancestral line still existed.
The right of protection refers to the relationshipexisting between a freed slave and the former
slave owner who has given the slave freedom.
Here, I will not explain the specific content of thisrelationship, but wish to focus on the regulations
governing the inheritance of this right instead.
However, for the purpose of contrast, I will first
explain the rules of property inheritance. As an
example, let us assume that after the death of A, B
and C inherit A's property. Next, when B dies, thesame rules as in A's case are applied, and B's
inheritors and their inheritance shares are
determined. The same process is also applied incase of C's death. However, inheritance of the rightof protection works differently. The difference isthat only male members of the agnate line possess
the right to inherit the right of protection. What iseven more important is that when the current
bearer of the right of protection dies, order ofinheritance of it is determined as if it were directly
inherited from the manumitter of the slave, theoriginal bearer of this right. Expressed in a graphic,
the relationship looks as follows.

Let us assume that when the manumitter dies, heleaves a father (A), a full brother (D), a half brotherborn to the same father and a different mother (E),and a nephew (F). According to the rules ofproperty inheritance, only D possesses the right ofinheritance, and in this case the right to protection
does not differ. When D dies later on, he leaves E

6and F behind. F inherits D's property, while E does
not possess inheritance rights in this case.
However, in regard to the right of protection,
only E inherits this right, while F is barred frominheriting it. To understand the logic behind this, itis necessary to explain the principle that
determines the order of inheritance of the right ofprotection from the manumitter. Firstly, I will
divide the male agnate kinship group of theliberated slave in the following way:
Group 1 consists of the direct descendants ofthe freed slave.
Group 2 consists of the father of the liberated
slave as well as his direct descendants.
Group 3 consists of the father of the father ofthe freed slave as well as his direct descendants.
In the above, 1.) smaller groups exclude membersof larger groups from inheritance. 2.) Within thesame group, lower ranking members exclude
higher ranking members such as the parent of theliberated slave from the right to inherit. 3.) When
there are multiple brothers of the liberated slave,full brothers take precedence over siblings born todifferent mothers when it comes to inheriting theright of protection. Offspring born to full brothers
also trumps offspring born to different mothers.
Generally, among brothers of the person ranked
first in the order of inheritance (males of the agnate
lineage) in the various groups, full brothers outrank
brothers born to different mothers, and thedescendants of full brothers trump offspring bornto the same father and a different mother.
Applying these three rules to the example caseoutlined above, the order of inheritance from themanumitter is A, D, E, F, but since A has alreadydied, D inherits the right of protection. What
happens, then, in case D dies? If this was a questionof property inheritance, D's child F would inherit.
As it is assumed in regard to the inheritance of theright of protection that this right is inherited anew
from the manumitter, the order of inheritance isalso A, D, E, F. However, since A and D are alreadydeceased, it is E who inherits the right.
Extending this example to inheritance over
several generations, this means that in case of thedeath of the bearer of the right of protection, theinheritor will be determined each time based on his
relation to the initial bearer of the right (themanumitter). This principle is only applied in thecase of questions of inheriting the right ofprotection. Other rights are not inherited at all, andproperty, which is the only other inheritablepossession, is inherited directly from the deceased
owner. It might be possible to interpret this asreflecting the fundamental Islamic attitude that at
the time of a person's death, that person's life ends
―albeit only until the day of resurrection.

On Mourning Portraits
AKIYAMA Akira (Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Art History)
KOZAI Toyoko (Specially Appointed Researcher in the G-COE
Death and Life Studies Program, Sociology/History of Medicine)
Recently, while researching the works ofAlbrecht Durer in Berlin's Kupferstichkabinett, I
had the opportunity to see a drawing by Lukas
Furtenagel the Elder. Furtenagel is virtually
unknown in Japan. If he is known at all, he is
known as having been an active contemporary ofHans Burgkmair in Augsburg, and also for having
painted a portrait of Burgkmair and his wife
(housed in the Vienna Museum of Fine Arts).
Although there are many unknown facts about
Furtenagel's life, it appears that he worked in
Augsburg and later moved to Halle.
It is said that on February 18th, 1546, as Martin
Luther came to the end of his 62-year-long life (inEisleben), a local painter was called to his death
bed and drew a portrait of Luther lying on his side.
This was followed by a painter from Halle, whodrew a portrait of Luther in his coffin. The former
work is not known to be extant. The latter work,of Luther after death, is housed in Berlin and isgenerally recognized to be by Furtenagel. It isthough that these portraits of Luther were mainly
mass-produced in the studio of Lucas Cranach theElder. At least 14 extant works have been
confirmed. Among these works, the portrait
housed in Hanover's Lower Saxony State Museum
is notable for its quality. Although it is thought tohave been painted by the hand of Lucas Cranach
the Elder himself, recent research and surveys
indicate that Cranach based his work on
Furtenagel's sketch. Furtenagel is thought to havebeen the wellspring for a series of Protestant icons.
In fact, his work goes beyond portraying Luther's
death. Without idealization, this work vividly
portrays Luther's visage and silently conveys
Luther's strong persona: it has the power toentrance the viewer. This point is markedly
different from other works, which lack the
portrayal of Luther's persona. Luther's death mask
and hand imprint are housed in Halle's Marien
Church, and these are also said to be byFurtenagel. One reason for the appeal of the work
housed in Berlin is that it was painted by a great
artist who was able to see Luther up close.
But why were such mortuary portraits made atall? As Catholics spread the rumor that Luther's
final hours were spent in agony, it is said that
Protestants needed a means of propagating that
Luther was actually at peace. When we look at thevirtually same mortuary portrait of Philipp
Melanchthon, a friend of Luther, we must conclude
that such a possibility exists. Contemporary
mortuary portaits―Erasmus, Holy Roman emperor
Maximilian I, and Duke William IV. of Bavaria(Bayern)―it is likely that such paintings werecommon. The reason for this is that it is thoughtthat these works would be used as templates forcreating further mortuary paintings. It has also

been noted that the mortuary portraits of royalty
possibly functioned as a surrogate during funerals,
and so forth. That said, the mortuary portraits ofErasmus and Maximilian I. portray individuals whocome to their death after a long struggle andexhaustion. Thus, these works are difficult toinclude as being the same as Luther's portrait.
Today, when we look at a picture of thedeceased we generally see a photograph of when
they were alive and, generally speaking, these areimages that all will like. However, in pre-modern
Europe we can occasionally note mortuary images
that connote the visage and cadaver as having
struggled. Although we speak of mortuary
paintings in a single breath, the possibility that
their meanings and functions varied greatly exists.
Hence, there is a need for a deeper consideration ofthese works.

7

Todai BIO 2010
ICHINOSE Masaki (Leader of the G-COE Death and Life Studies Program, Philosophy)

On May 1, 2010, the symposium Todai BIO
2010 was held at the Yasuda Auditorium of the
University of Tokyo. Despite the fact that the
symposium was held during a period of several
consecutive holidays, the event was as great a
success as the previous occasions, with not only
students and scholars, but also a large number ofthe general public filling the lecture hall. Thissymposium is an event that is held every year
under the auspices of the University of Tokyo Life
Science Network, and the symposia are importantannual events for Life Science. While possessing
the educational aim of informing students andscholars of the University of Tokyo of the state of
the field, aiding in determining new approaches,and giving new impetus for research, these
symposia also have the broader purpose ofdisseminating the findings of Life Science research
to society and assisting in vitalizing Life Science
research. What is remarkable about these symposia
is that while they are focused on Life Science, they
are not limited to research in the natural sciences,
but rather Life Science is defined broadly to referto research concerning life. In this regard, every
year there are contributions from scholars in suchfields as law, education, and the humanities.
Because of this approach, the BIO symposia are in
the truest sense of the word interdisciplinary. As I
have in the past acted as a member of theadministrative committee of this network and havea strong interest in the philosophy of biology, I
have always felt a strong affinity for the BIO
symposia. The Death and Life Studies project has
also participated every year in these symposia in
the form of poster sessions (displaying brochures
and posters of Death and Life Studies), and several
years ago the previous head of Death and Life
Studies, SHIMAZONO Susumu, participated as aspeaker in one of these symposia. Against thisbackground, the network decided to once again
include papers from a humanities perspective, andI myself was selected to give a paper.
With twenty-five minutes allotted to eachspeaker, the presentations were given a very tighttime frame. A timer had been placed on stage
through which it was possible for the speaker tosee exactly how many seconds had passed. Since I
was not so used to the presentation format of thenatural sciences, I was a little bewildered at first.
Anyway, after the opening address by thepresident of the University of Tokyo, HAMADA
Junichi, the presentations started at once. The firstpresentation, Nano-electronics and the Life
Sciences, was given by TABATA Hitoshi fromthe Faculty of Engineering. My own presentation
on The Phenomenon of Life and Freedom was
next. Besides discussing an approach seeking tothrow light on the questions of human freedom

8

and responsibility by focusing on the phenomenonof life―that is by reference to theories on homicidein evolutionary psychology such as the so-called
concept of the criminal gene and experiments
conducted in the field of neuro-ethics―my paper
also revisited the issue of the meaning of
freedom from a philosophical viewpoint,
bringing this revised concept of freedom into
dialogue with the life-centered approach. I am notcertain to what extent I was able to bring across
my ideas in such short time, but as there weremany participants who had questions concerning
my paper, I feel that I succeeded at least in
stimulating the listeners. Next, OHMURA Atsushi
from the Faculty of Law gave a paper entitledEugenics and Marriage―From the Perspective of
Pre-war Japan, followed by a paper on Futuretranslation of personal genome research into
clinical practice by TSUJI Shoji from the Facultyof Medicine. After the lunch break, SHIMADA
Masakazu from the Graduate School of Arts andSciences at Komaba campus talked about Rapid
Adaptation: Learning and Evolutionary Games inInsects, SERIZAWA Takeshi from the ResearchCenter for Advanced Science and Technology
gave a paper entitled Material-Recognizing
Peptides, FURUYA Ken from the Faculty ofAgriculture discussed Nitrogen Fixation in Ocean
Deserts, and professor KATO Shigeaki from theInstitute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
presented on Molecular mechanism of regulated
expressions of genomic and epigenomic
information. Lastly, the head of the Life Science
Network, YAMAMOTO Masayuki, gave the closing
address, and a fruitful symposium came to its end.
There already exists a semantic overlap between
Death and Life Studies and Life Science in thenames of these fields. With the establishment of
Death and Life Studies as an independent
discipline, collaboration with the Life Sciences isessentially indispensable. In the future, I want toactively foster contact between the Death and Life
Studies program, Life Science, and the BIO
symposia.

A Lecture by J. Baird Callicott:
Biodiversity - What it is and why it is GoodSHIMAZONO Susumu (Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Religious Studies)
KOZAI Toyoko (Specially Appointed Researcher in the G-COE
Death and Life Studies Program, Sociology/History of Medicine)
J. Baird Callicott, who currently teaches at the
University of North Texas, is a distinguishedscholar who taught the world's first course on
environmental ethics at the University of
Wisconsin in 1971 and acted as Vice President andthen President of the International Society for
Environmental Ethics from 1994 to 2000. As canbe gleaned from the fact that one of his books isentitled In Defense of the Land Ethic, Callicott
incorporates in his work the concept of land
ethics first formulated by Aldo Leopold (18871948) and has labored to further develop ecocentric thought and the concept of the Rights of
Nature in particular.
Last year saw the publication of a Japanesetranslation of his book Earth's Insights: A
Multicultural Survey of Ecological Ethics from theMediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback, inwhich he displays great interest in the religions
and cultural traditions of Asia in an attempt toformulate a multicultural environmental ethic. This
book is extremely useful in bringing together thefields of Death and Life Studies in which we havebeen engaged at the University of Tokyo withenvironmental ethics. Callicott's talk was madepossible through the assistance of the Uehiro
Foundation on Ethics and Education, which alsosponsors the Uehiro Chair for Death and Life
Studies.
In his talk, which was held on June 30, 2010 at
Lecture Hall 1 of the Faculty of Law and Letters
Building 2, Callicott discussed the history of theconcept of biodiversity and the question of why
biodiversity is good. While the concept of
biodiversity is nowadays frequently treated ashaving a readily apparent value, according to thesociobiologist Edward Wilson, the concept was first
formulated between the 1980s and early 1990s
and became widely known through the influenceof Walter Rosen. With the flourishing of ecologicalthought, the academic meaning of this term also
became more clearly defined over time. In thiscontext, more and more attention has been given
in recent years to the notion of bio-cultural
diversity, which stresses the existence of an
inseparable relationship between biologicaldiversity and human cultural diversity.
Why, however, is biodiversity good? Those who
put great emphasis on the value of ecology takebiodiversity as an unquestionable and obvious
good and strongly oppose technologies andregional development projects that fundamentally
alter the environment. However, to explain why
biodiversity is good is actually not a simple task.
This is because there often are value-based
conflicts between the various reasons given insupport of biodiversity. Is it actually possible toformulate an argument that combines measurable
reasons (reasons based on the calculation andmeasurement of adverse effects on theenvironment) and internal reasons (reasons thatsee biodiversity as a good in itself and as such able
to form the precondition for laws and regulations)?
As one possible measure to deal with thisconundrum, in cases in which a quantitativeevaluation is not possible, biodiversity advocates
who are concerned about potential environmental
damage could demand from the other side in anargument to deliver proof that environmental
degradation will not occur in a given development
project etc.
Above, I have provided a brief synopsis of
Callicott's talk. Callicott's attempt to find a way toestablish rational discourse in favor of biodiversity
in the face of the danger of ecological thought
being reduced to an inflexible conviction andlosing its persuasiveness in the process, clearly
showed a contemporary development of applied
ethical thought concerning death and life. The
lecture was followed by a lively debate.

9Symposium: Death and Life Studies
On Human Animal Relations
ICHINOSE Masaki (Leader of the G-COE Death and Life Studies Program, Philosophy)

On September 4, 2010, the symposium Death andLife Studies On Human Animal Relations was held
jointly by DALS and the Society for the Study of
Human Animal Relations at the Koshiba Hall in the
University of Tokyo's School of Science. Despitecoming at the end of the summer break, theaudience was more than a hundred members strong,
and the symposium turned out to be an extremely
vibrant event. The relationship between humans andanimals has been a topic that the Death and Life
Studies project had already previously begun toconsider. On this occasion, this interest bore fruition,and in cooperation with the Society for the Study of
Human Animal Relations, a venue for discussing this
topic was provided.
It is easy to think that Death and Life Studies are
exclusively concerned with questions of humandeath and life. In regard to this perception, bio-ethics
and medical ethics are in particular depicted as
constituting the main fields of discussion. Indeed,
ethics and morality have traditionally been
defined as pertaining to inter-human relations.
However, through the maturing of experiential
research, philosophy, and ethics concerning animals,
current perceptions are at the moment in the processof considerable change. Academia has become
increasingly conscious of the fact that in many
senses, our death and life is always linked to thedeath and life of animals. This topic has therefore
turned into a main object of scholarly inquiry. Whenconsidering the issue of death and life, thequestion of ethics naturally arises, too, andawareness of the link between these two issues has
become widely shared. Actually, in the 21st century,
the issue of animal ethics has been given a
prominent position as a focal point for a variety ofproblem areas in philosophy and ethics.
Grounded in these concerns, this symposium took
up the thematic group consisting of animal-assisted
therapy, pets, assistance dogs, animal experiments,and vegetarianism. In all of these issues, ananthropocentric viewpoint focusing on employing
the help of animals to further human happiness aswell as an animal-centric viewpoint that considers
the happiness and rights of the animals themselves
are intricately intertwined. Furthermore, these issues
also simultaneously incorporate a descriptive
approach taking account of what is and a normative
approach concerning what ought to be. The issues ofdeath and life and the relationship between humans
and animals are by their very nature multilayered,and in this sense the conference structure
corresponded well with the overall theme at hand.
The symposium began at 10:20 am with opening
words by myself. The morning session featured the
keynote address International Standards andQuality Control in Animal-Assisted Therapy by
Dennis Turner, a behavioral biologist and Senior

10

Research Associate at the University of Zurich.
Turner discussed the positive effects that pet
ownership has on the health of the pet's owner, andpointed out that the positive effects of pet ownershipeven extend to the owner's mental health as wellas providing a social facilitator beneficial tointerpersonal communication. Utilizing these positiveeffects by incorporating animals into the medical
treatment of various ailments is known as animalassisted therapy. However, when putting this formof treatment into practice, one also needs to consider
the quality of life of the animals involved. Turnersuggested guidelines to assess the quality of life ofthese animals, furthermore discussed the differences
between animal-assisted therapy, animal-assisted
education, and animal-assisted activities, and ended
his talk by giving an overview of the current
international situation concerning these issues. Afterthe talk, there were many queries from the audience.
I inquired about whether there are also people whowill refrain from keeping a pet since they want toavoid suffering from pet loss, which is anunavoidable aspect of pet ownership. Turner
responded by saying that far from being a negative
aspect, real contact with animals, including their
death, enables us to accept and come to terms withnatural death. Nozomi Tsuda, from the social welfare
corporation Noyurikai, and well-versed in theseissues, acted as chairperson.
After the lunch break, the afternoon session
started. The first panel of the afternoon session wasentitled The Human-Animal Bond, and consistedof three panelists. First, Mitsuaki Ohta, from Azabu
University, raised an interesting issue in his paperwith the straightforward title Will the Day Come
when Animal-Assisted Therapy Receives
Recognition in Medical Science? According to Ohta,
it is currently exceedingly difficult for animal
therapy to be established as a form of treatment inpractical medicine in Japan since the tendency isparticularly strong to demand of this field not only
experiential evidence, but also a preceding scientificlogic. However, he concluded that the day isprobably near when animal therapy will exist as a
medical option, since research in this field has made

tremendous progress on the global level. Next,
Yasuhiko Aita from the Japan Society for thePrevention of Cruelty to Animals gave a paper on
the phenomenon of pet loss entitled Pet Loss: The
Joy of Being with Pets and Sorrow for their Death.
Drawing on his personal experience of the loss of his
pet dog, Aita pointed out that pet loss can be
debilitating in extreme cases, that there is individual
variation in how people are affected by it, that there
are no measures that can prevent pet loss, that deathis natural, and that coming to terms with one s grief
can only occur naturally. Finally, Rinka Shinoda,
from the National Federation of All Japan Guide
Dog Training Institutions, talked about Why
Guide/Service Dogs are not yet More Accepted inJapan. Based on a detailed survey of people withsight and hearing impairments, she addressed thequestion of why the use of aide dogs, such as guidedogs, service dogs, and hearing assistance dogs is
not wide spread in Japanese society. Shinoda
reported that persons with sight impairments
responded in the survey that they refrained fromhaving a guide dog for financial reasons or out ofconsideration for the animal, but it has become
apparent that the act of contemplating having a
guide dog itself can cause the person concerned tostart thinking about their life in a different way.
Based on these survey findings, Shinoda concluded
that not only would it be necessary to promote theuse of guide dogs, but also to expand the counselingsystem for persons with sight and hearing
impairments. In the following, Noriko Niijima, fromYamazaki Gakuen University, commented on thethree papers, arguing that all three topics―animalassisted therapy, pet loss, and aide dogs― involvesome kinds of ambiguity, and that becoming awareof this fact is necessary for dealing with the issues
at hand. During discussion time, a wide variety ofquestions were asked and the extraordinary interestof people in this cluster of issues was apparent. Also
giving comments of his own on the papers, Manabu
Akagawa, a DALS Representative, was an efficientchairperson for this session.
Next, the second panel of the afternoon session
was concerned with the topic of animal ethics. The
panel consisted of two presenters. First, Tetsuji
Iseda, from Kyoto University, talked about The
Ethics of Animal Experimentation: Rights, Welfare,and Kuyo. He began by introducing the ideas ofanimal welfare based on the three core notions ofabolishment, improvement, alternatives, and theconcept of animal rights. Iseda then discussed thestate of affairs in Japan, pointing out that Japan islagging behind Europe and North America in regard
to these issues. As one possible way of overcoming
this impasse, he suggested the implementation ofmemorial services ( kuyo ) for animals killed inexperiments, and considered the question of whether

it would be possible to establish a new, original
Japanese ethics that could also be disseminated toother countries based on such memorial services.
The second presenter was the writer Shizuka
Tsuruta. Tsuruta discussed the ethical issue ofeating meat in a paper entitled Vegetarianism―
Food for Love and Thought. First, she pointed outthat vegetarianism is not merely equivalent torefraining from eating meat, but is rather founded on
the idea of not destroying life. She then proceeded togive a detailed description of the history ofvegetarianism from Greco-Roman times. As the
ethical foundation of vegetarianism, Tsuruta broughtup the inequality inherent in the speciesism andthe environmental destruction accompanying thepractice of eating meat. She also pointed out thatvegetarianism is not necessarily exclusively
connected to the aim of staying healthy. Finally, I,
myself, presented my thoughts and comments
concerning the papers under the title Lack andFulfillment of Consideration for Animals. I
considered the issues of vegetarianism and the ethics
of memorial services for animals, while pointing outthat there is a lack of taking into account thevagueness of the concept of sentient that is theobject of ethics, the reality of the daily occurrence of
the killing of dogs and cats, as well as the fact thatwhat is needed is a discussion from the perspectiveof a utopian society in which consideration foranimals has been fully realized. The panel was
followed by a lively discussion session. One could
gain an acute sense of how these issues are reallylocated at the forefront of the study of ethics. Seizo
Sekine of the Ethics Department at the Graduate
School of Humanities and Sociology acted aschairperson for this session, summing up thediscussion, and giving his own views from theperspective of a scholar of ethics.
After the symposium, a reception was held at the
Sanjo Conference Hall. Mitsuaki Ohta told me thatthe symposium had made him once more aware of
the importance of philosophical ethics, and in myview the entire day was extremely significant. I also
have the feeling that the event marked an important
step in the activities of the Death and Life studies
institute.

11

Symposium:
The Present State of the Commoditization of LifeISHIKAWA Kumiko (DALS Specially Appointed Researcher,Intellectual History of Japanese Political Thought)

Recently, in our globalizing society, thepossibility for the circulation of the human body is
becoming a reality. Reproductive technologies are
no exception. Practices such as surrogacy (orsurrogate pregnancy. Hereafter simply labeledsurrogacy ), embryo donation, and ovum donation―which are only possible through using the bodyof a living other―are spreading. This is not
something unrelated to our own selves.
Such concerns, held by a number of our younger
researchers, led to the planning and hosting (June
12 th , 2010) of the symposium entitled, The
Present State of the Commoditization of Life. Thissymposium focused on the problem of surrogacy.
Following Shimazono Susumu's (Religious
Studies) opening remarks, Miho Ogino (Doshisha
University; Women and Gender Studies)gave the opening address, which wasentitled, Reproduction/Commoditization of the
Body/Feminism: with a focus on Japan and theUSA. She noted differences in feminist awarenessand problematization concerning surrogacy andovum donation in the USA and Japan. In Japan,
reproductive technologies such as host surrogacy(etc.) are suspected as being methods forcontrolling and commodifying female bodies:many take a cautious view of such applications.
Pace this, in the USA both pro- and counterarguments coexist. Notably, some hold thatsurrogacy promotes women's solidarity andliberation from pregnancy and birth. It was pointed
out that it is a serious issue as to how to face thevarious problems concerning reproductive
technologies in a world in which the global spreadof American notions of freedom and distrust forlaws limiting self-determination.
Next, Soichiro Ogura (DALS Specially Appointed
Researcher; Philosphy/Ethics/Bioethics) presented
a paper entitled, Surrogacy and Fertility

12

Counseling: German Law and Social Praxis ; next,
the journalist Kazumoto Ohno spoke on Why I
am Against Surrogacy ; and, finally, Koji Kugu
(Lecturer, University of Tokyo Hospital;
obstetrician) gave a paper entitled Problems
concerning Reproductive Technology as seen fromthe Clinical Field.
In Germany, based on the Obstetric ConflictLaw, counseling centers provide mental healthcare, disseminate information, and promote mental
and physical check-ups for infertile couples. Ogura
noted that reproductive technology is not always
the best solution and that mental care, as seen in
Pregnancy Conflict Counseling, is necessary.
Based on his journalistic experience, Ohnoargued that There is no room for accepting
surrogacy. He noted that surrogate mothers
abroad are, without exception, from impoverishedclasses, that surrogate pregnancy harbors a
number of issues, and that it often harms
relationships between couples. More than anything,accounting for the perspective of children born
through surrogacy is lacking and such children
often struggle with searching for their origins.
Kugu's paper noted the problem of the role ofthird parties in reproductive technology. In the AID
procedure, a child's right to know their birthparents and the right to anonymity for theseparents is in conflict. Further, He also pointed out,for example, that in IVF ovum donation that
pregnancies in which the fetus and maternal body
do not have genetic commonality that the risk forgenetic incompatibility increases. In either case, thelong-term care for such children has not been fully
addressed. As problems concerning surrogate
conception have not been fully presented by the
media, a simple acceptance of these practices
requires caution.
Yoshie Yanagihara (G-COE Specially Appointed
Researcher; Bioethics and Gender Studies) notedthat although the Japanese media claims thatsurrogacy is accepted throughout the world,
there are in fact many countries that ban thepractice. She also noted that simply banning suchtechnologies is not enough but that there is alsothat a need for mental health care for those whohave given up on conception. Yasutaka
Ichinokawa (Sociology) further pointed out that, aswith the organ transplantation issue [in Japan], themedia often conveys incorrect information. He also
noted the importance of correctly conveying thevoices of those who have undertaken suchprocedures and now regret doing so.
A great number of opinions and questions―spanning sociology, gender studies, ethics, law, andso forth―from the audience were also presented
and, with this, our symposium ended on a
successful note.

The Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingmingjie) andFuneral Culture in Contemporary China
Erik SCHICKETANZ (DALS Specially Appointed Researcher, Religious Studies)

On May 13, 2010, I gave a paper entitled The
Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingmingjie) and Funeral
Culture in Contemporary China as part of the DALS
Research Seminar. About ten DALS members were
present on the occasion. In this paper I sought toprovide some preliminary thoughts on the issue ofancestor worship and views of death and the afterlife
in contemporary China. I am mostly interested in thequestion of how the relationship between state andsociety influences and shapes ideas of the afterlife aswell as related practices. I based my observations on
the example of the Tomb Sweeping Festival, a
traditional holiday that has become recognized inrecent years as a national holiday.
The Chinese Communist Party has since its
founding propagated a materialist and secularworldview. The notion of the existence of ancestral
spirits with the power to intervene in this world thathas been part of popular ancestor worship was
rejected as part of this ideology. After the founding of
the People's Republic, alongside branding ancestor
worship as superstition, the communist government
planned the reform of funeral practices. The focus ofthese policies lay in bringing about a transition fromburial to cremation. These funeral reforms form partof the CCP's aim to civilize (wenminghua) Chinesesociety. As civilized funeral practice, the Chinese
government promotes remembrance andcommendation of the dead as a replacement for theirworship, seeking to spread a secular form of funeralin Chinese society devoid of all supernaturalelements.
On the occasion of the Tomb Sweeping Festival,
the bereaved visit their ancestral graves, clean them,and worship in front of them. An important part of
the ritual activities that traditionally took place was
the supplication of the dead through the burning of
paper offerings. In return for these offerings, theliving gained the protection of the ancestors. The
relationship between the living and dead was thus
not a one-sided one, but rather mutual. As this view
takes ancestors as active entities and went against
the Communist government's secular ideology, theTomb Sweeping Festival became the target of state
repression in the People's Republic.
However, on December 14, 2007, Decree No. 513 of
the State Council recognized the Tomb Sweeping
Festival as a national holiday, with 2008 marking thefirst year of public celebrations on the occasion ofthis festival since the founding of the People's
Republic. This recognition of the Tomb Sweeping
Festival brings up the question of whether the
Chinese government's position in regard to traditional
notions of the afterlife has changed.
Since the beginning of the reform in 1978 state
regulations in regard to religion and traditional
culture have increasingly loosened, and the buildingof temples and general revitalization of religious life

has emerged as a prominent social phenomenon.
Furthermore, a recent survey showed that aroundtwenty-five percent of the Chinese people believe thatancestors have influence over the fate of the living
and the practice of burning paper offerings is also a
noticeable feature of the contemporary Tomb
Sweeping Festival. However, while traditional
believes and practices are experiencing a revival insociety and the state has indeed relaxed its control
over religious activities, this does not mean that state
control over religion and traditional culture has ended
entirely.
As part of its aim to establish a harmonious
society ( hexie shehui ), the Chinese state has
actively attempted in recent years to bring traditional
culture within the fold of its cultural policies. The
state hopes that traditional culture can function as akind of psychological glue that can counteract thenegative social effects of the introduction of themarket economy. The Tomb Sweeping Festival is no
exception in this regard, having been reinstated as anational holiday to act as a tool to foster social
stability. However, the Chinese state does notpromote a traditional form of the festival, but rather acivilized one, in which a mutual relationshipbetween the living and the dead does not exist. In
fact, the state's vision of the Tomb Sweeping Festival
closely mirrors its attempts to promote a secularized
form of funeral, in which the dead are passive entities
that are the object of remembrance by the living.
The contemporary Tomb Sweeping Festival in the
People's Republic represents a meeting of reemerging
traditional ritual practices and the attempts of thestate to secularize the festival's cultural contents.
Since the festival has only recently been recognizedas part of official Chinese culture, it is too early to
predict what form rites of ancestor worshipperformed on this occasion will take in the future. It
is my aim to take the case of the Tomb Sweeping
Festival to examine how the two forces of traditional
culture and the state intersect in the formation ofcontemporary Chinese perceptions of death and theafterlife.

13

2009 Clinical Death and Life Studies/
Ethics Research Group Report
YAMAZAKI Hiroshi (Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Uehiro Lecturer, Death andLife Studies/Medical Sociology)

In 2009, our research group entered its 3 rd year and aseries of 10 presentations and discussions concerning
issues in Death and Life Studies―notably concerning
praxis―was held. The following presents a brief
sketch of each paper and reflections on the meetings.
First Meeting : April 16th, 2009
HIV Infection Risks and the Pain of Living: MSM(Men who have Sex with Men): Thoughts from a
SurveyYAMAZAKI Hiroshi (University of Tokyo Faculty of
Letters, Graduate School of Humanities andSociology)
As the vast number of reported cases of HIV
infection in Japan are due to male-male sexual
relations, the issue of conducting preventative
measures against infection for MSM is of great
import. In this paper, through qualitative research, I
observed that if the worsening of mental health carefor MSM and the lack of condom usage are connected
to HIV infection, then we must ask: What is theinterpretative scheme through which to connect bothphenomena? I noted that many MSM face deplorable
mental health care and see this as being painful.
Through delineating the existence (or non-existence)and the varieties of such feelings, I concluded thatthese are elements influencing the lack of condom
usage. In the Q&A period, it was helpfully pointed outthat such a survey is interactive and harbors ethicalquestions as it helps―through the strong singling outof MSM―to cause participants to actually becomeaware of their pain.
Second Meeting : May 28th, 2009
On the Relationship between Appropriate and Good
Health Care: Through Observing the Concept ofMedical Response
ENZO Aya (University of Tokyo Faculty of Letters,
Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology/ JSPS)
In recent years, there has been a trend toemphasize the question of undertaking appropriate
medical care and, before that, addressing just what
this means. However, in just what case is it mostappropriate to carry out such proper care? Further,what kind of treatment could become an alternativein cases where such care is not appropriate? In thispaper, this problem was approached from the conceptof medical response from the standpoint of chronic
ailments. Although this paper's analysis approachedthis problem through using medical literature, thespeaker―in the Q&A session―was given helpful
opinions concerning the need for examining the useof the terms medical response and appropriate
care in everyday life.
Third Meeting : June 11th, 2009
Home-Based Terminal Care and its Underlying
Views of Death and Dying
KOGO Yumiko (University of Tokyo Graduate
School, Dep. of Education)
In this paper, I focused on aspects of death as foundin my current research. Along with a qualitative
analysis of views of death and dying as thought to14

be held by health care providers in home-based
terminal care practices, I presented a working
hypothesis on this matter. I received many honest yet
constructive comments during the discussion period.
Notably, the need for examining the merit anddemerit of―both from the perspective of both theclinical and non-clinical space―how researchers both
immerse themselves in the clinical space and are also
distanced from such space was pointed out. I was
given many valuable suggestions to be considered infuture research. I would like to offer my thanks forhaving been given the opportunity to present myresearch as part of a research group consisting ofscholars coming from such varied backgrounds.
Fourth Meeting : June 25th, 2009
See Newsletter 24.
Meeting Five : July 9th, 2009
On the Present and Future of Electroshock
Experiments in Patients with Consciousness
Disorders
TODA Soichiro (University of Tokyo Graduate
School, Dep. of Medicine)In this talk, I clarified that examining if patients(notably those in vegetative states or with minimal
conscious awareness) feel pain or not is of great
clinical import. I then reviewed recent electroshock
experiments for patients with such disorders. After
having examined the history of issues concerningthese experiments, I argued that the anticipatory or
predictive paradigm of experimentation is effective
even for determining the ability to comprehend
language in such patients. In the ensuing discussion,
it was debated as to whether or not such painfulstimulation was ethically appropriate. It was also
pointed out from an emergency room doctor thatsome patients who have recovered consciousness
recall this stimulation and are angered with theirdoctors. The discussion was highly productive andgave me a number of ideas for researching current
experiments that attempt to keep pain to a minimum,and I was also made aware of the question of the
ethicality of such practices.
Meeting Six : October 15th, 2009
A Report by a Clinical Nurse Seeking to Apply
Ethics to Situations of Deciding on Medical
Treatment
SHIRAKAMI Taeko (Hyogo College of Medicine,
Division of Coronary Heart Disease)
As someone involved in the acquisition of informed
consent, I have become skeptical as to whether
throughout the clinical environment it is truly thewish of the patient to make the final decision on thecontent of treatment and whether burdening patientswith these decisions would truly represent respect
for their wishes. A survey addressing this issue has
shown that while 70% of patients wanted to leave theultimate decision on medical treatment up to thedoctor in charge, all survey participants answeredthat they would like to be involved in the decision
making process. Based on the survey results, itappears that what patients expect in terms of respectfor their wishes as part of the procedure of acquiring
informed consent is not a decision based on adequate
explanation, but rather that medical practitioners
display an attitude of working jointly together withthe patient. While putting my argument together, I
often regretted having ventured to give this talk. The
pressure I experienced at contemplating having topresent my ideas at the University of Tokyo wastremendous. However, my fears proved absolutely
unfounded and the occasion turned out to be highly
stimulating and enjoyable.
Meeting Seven : November 5th, 2009
Solving the Conflict between the Japanese Women's
Movement and the Disability Movement Over
Prenatal Diagnosis
HAYASHI Chiaki (Josai International University,
Graduate School of Humanities)
When the disability movement raised the questionof whether women actually possess the right to abort
a fetus diagnosed with a disability, the Japanesewomen's movement, which has been calling for therecognition of female reproductive rights, wasconfronted with the contradiction between female
physicality carrying life that is simultaneously
identical with the woman and separate from her on
the one hand and the identity of women as legal
entities on the other. The women's movement has
criticized prenatal diagnosis as a means by whichsociety avoids having to address the rights of womenand persons with disabilities by turning the selectionof life into an issue of the individual. In thispresentation, I tried to give order to and consider thearguments coming out of the disability movement.
While these arguments share a lot in common withthe critique of prenatal diagnosis formulated by the
women's movement, I fear that the disability
movement displays the tendency to identify with thefetus and perceive the relationship between fetus andpregnant woman as antagonistic. Also, the legal
regulations for selective abortion are rejected as
perfectionism. As a number of research group
participants commented based on their own personal
experiences, the Q&A session turned into a valuable
opportunity to see how bioethical issues manifest as
part of individual suffering.
Meeting Eight : December 17th, 2009
Grief over Suicides Within the Family: From the
Accounts of Bereaved Family Members
HASHIMOTO Nozomu (University of Tokyo
Graduate School, Dep. of Education)
Support for bereaved relatives―one of the response
measures after a suicide―takes the form of learning
to talk about a death that is difficult to discuss openly.
I have been conducting interview-based research toelucidate the quality of interactions with others
through acts of talking about the suicide of a close
relative. Analysis of the interviews has suggested tome that it is useful to consider the speech acts of
bereaved family members from the vantage point ofseveral qualities. Also, while it can be pointed out that
there is a kind of silence that prevents speech fromtaking place, there is also a type of silence that is

indispensable for speech to take place. I have been
advancing my research by taking this plurality
inherent in silence into account. My approach is basedon clinical psychology, but I have been able to benefit
from the differing academic backgrounds, interests,
and experiences of the research group participants.
Thanks to the valuable comments I was able toreceive from them, I have become aware of issues
and methods of expression that had until thenescaped my attention.
Meeting Nine : January 21th, 2010
The Meaning of Life and Its Relationship to Death:
An Analytical Approach to Issues Related to DeathYOSHIZAWA Fumitake (Chiba University, Graduate
School of Humanities and Social Sciences)
What is the meaning of our lives? In recent years,
there is an ongoing effort in the field of analytic
philosophy to elaborate on the concept of themeaning of life. In my presentation, I argued that in
the current discourse there has not been enoughinterest in the relationship between the meaning oflife and death, and that the question of whether life
can have meaning in the face of inevitable death has
not been adequately addressed. Furthermore, I
pointed out that there are two types of relationshipbetween the meaning of life and death, and that bydifferentiating between these, a certain nihilistic
viewpoint can be avoided. The varied background of
the research group participants meant that I was able
to receive many stimulating comments. While thetopic of my research itself is of a familiar and
immediate nature, I fear that my presentation was
heavily focused on making a formal scholarly
argument and thus not easy to follow. I seek topresent my thoughts in a more accessible manner atfuture opportunities.
Meeting Ten : February 4th, 2010
Research on the Development of a Program of
Death Education for Young Adolescents: Aiding the
Formulation of a View on Death and Life ThroughDiscussions with Students
EBINE Rie (University of Tokyo Graduate School,
Dep. of Education)
Focusing on third-year middle school students andfirst-year high school students, my research was
conducted with the aim of creating a program that
can help the development of a view on death and lifeby the students themselves through gaining
awareness of one's own death or that of someone
close and discussing each other's death in the family.
Based on the transcripts of the group interviews andwritten feedback from the students gained in class, I
analyzed the psychological effects and influence ofthe program on the students. What can be gleaned
from the findings of my investigation is that thenegative emotional reactions expressed in classcoexist with positive psychological reactions, and thatnegative emotional reactions are not necessarily
something that should be eliminated as undesirable.
In the Q&A session, I received valuable comments
regarding how to improve my analytical as well as
my educational approach.

15