Japan Society for Dying with Dignity (JSDD)

The Japan Society for Dying with Dignity (JSDD) was formerly known as the Japan Euthanasia Association, and was founded by Dr. Tenrei Ota in 1976. JSDD was incorporated in 2011.

Ota proposed a Bill on Optional Euthanasia in his book Recommendations Concerning Euthanasia (1973). Though he tried to introduce the bill to the Diet - the National Assembly of Japan - he did not succeed. The name of the Association was changed to the Japan Society for Dying with Dignity; the Society has continued efforts to submit the bill to the Diet. 

No laws or official guidelines yet govern voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in Japan. A bill on the termination of life-sustaining measures has yet to be sent to the Diet, due to strong community opposition. However, Japan has recently witnessed several cases involving VAD (Asai, Okita, Shimakura et al, 2023).

Asai, A., Okita, T., Shimakura, Y. et al. (2023). Japan should initiate the discussion on voluntary assisted dying legislation now. BMC Med Ethics 24(5). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-023-00886-0

Nakanishi, S. (2015, June 15). Death with Dignity and Persons with Disabilities. https://tinyurl.com/3df7y5y6