Director Naomi Kawase’s New Film Explores Heart Transplants in Japan, Production Involved Real Patients, Families

By Ryosuke Kobashiri / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

7:00 JST, February 19, 2026

A film about the current state of heart transplant surgeries in Japan has been completed in cooperation with actual patients. Director Naomi Kawase’s new work, “Yakushima’s Illusion,” pursued realism through extensive interviews with patients, their families and doctors, who also appeared in the film.

The film was released nationwide in Japan on Feb. 6.

With a shortage of organ donors in Japan, a supporting organization involved in its production has expressed hope the movie will raise awareness about the importance of transplants.

In heart transplants, the heart is removed from a donor who is brain-dead and transplanted into a patient with heart disease. The average waiting period for a transplant in Japan is about four years and one month. Many patients die while waiting, and some opt for transplants overseas.

One catalyst for Kawase’s film project was a series of articles on organ transplantation published by The Yomiuri Shimbun starting in August 2022.

Among the articles, one covered the arrest of an NPO director suspected of arranging unauthorized organ transplants overseas in violation of the Organ Transplant Law; another told the story of a young boy who died while waiting for a heart transplant due to donor shortages and conveyed his family’s feelings. Kawase pasted the articles into her notebook and began drafting the film.

Kawase personally interviewed children awaiting heart transplants, their families and transplant surgeons. She learned that when a donor’s wishes are unknown, the family makes the decision. Kawase reflected, “Transplantation and donation are matters of life and death, and the burden on families is immense. Some people grasp at straws and seek transplants overseas. There are human emotions there, and I wanted to depict that.”

Based on real stories

In the film, actress Vicky Krieps from Luxembourg plays the protagonist, Corry. Arriving from France as a transplant coordinator at a hospital in Kobe, Corry grapples with challenges in reforming hospital attitudes and addressing staff shortages while working with children awaiting transplants, their families and doctors. During that time, a young girl’s condition suddenly deteriorates as she waits for a transplant.

This girl was modeled after a real child from Hokkaido, who was hospitalized in Osaka Prefecture to receive a transplant. She waited for two years and three months but died in 2022 at age 10. Kawase interviewed the girl’s family and gathered details about her daily life in the hospital.

Never giving up hope

Ryoma Aoyama, 45, a company employee from Suita, Osaka Prefecture, whose second daughter Tamaki received a heart transplant in Seattle in 2016, appears in the film as the father of a patient. He serves as the representative of the NPO “Trio Japan” in Tokyo, which supports children awaiting transplants.

He said, “The film carries a message of never giving up hope. I hope it raises awareness about organ donation and transplantation and encourages people to think about it.”

The film also depicts “accompanying hospitalization,” where family members stay overnight with the patient. Actress Machiko Ono plays a supporter who delivers homemade bento boxed meals to these families.

The model for Ono’s character is Tomoko Hata, 49, who runs a bento shop in Suita. She accompanied her eldest son, Shinnosuke, during his hospitalization for a brain tumor before he died in 2022 at age 17. She now delivers bento boxes to families of children awaiting heart transplants.

“Ms. Ono listened to my story with tears in her eyes. I’d be happy if the film helps advance support for these families,” said Hata who had visited the filming location.

“The essence of this film lies in the ‘connection of life’ — how one person’s death connects to another’s life.” Kawase said. “Transplantation isn’t about wishing for someone’s death or taking their organs. I hope more people understand that it’s simply a choice made by potential donors or their families.”