Abstract

In Japan the Western philosophy bioethics was introduced in the 1980s, and from that time the term ‘bioethics’ has been regarded as almost equivalent to ‘secular bioethics’. It is true that it must be secular in such a sense that it would be able to be the basis of public policy-making. But, before making the consensus, bioethical discourses should follow a pluralistic process of public debate, where secular arguments, as well as faith-based opinions, are equally supposed to be allowed. This presentation will examine the role of Buddhism in contemporary Japan with reference to the public statements Buddhist denominations make on organ transplantation issue.