Organ Transplant Figures Released for 1st Time, Showing Large Gap Between Hospitals

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:23 JST, October 2, 2025

The Japan Organ Transplant Network, an organ allocation agency, has released data on the number of organ transplants performed by hospitals using brain-dead donors. The first disclosure of its kind, the move is aimed at helping those patients seeking an organ transplant to choose a hospital.

The data, which was published on the agency’s website on Wednesday, will be updated annually in principle.

Hospitals reported the number of organs transplants they performed over the past three years, along with the number of patients waiting for transplants by organ type — heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys and small intestine.

For heart transplants, 12 hospitals released figures covering 2022 to 2024. According to the data, the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center performed the most such transplants, at 77 cases, followed by the University of Tokyo at 71 cases and the University of Osaka at 43. Together, these three hospitals accounted for 60% of all heart transplants.

Twelve hospitals also disclosed figures for lung transplants. The University of Tokyo topped the list with 109 cases, followed by Kyoto University with 72 and Tohoku University with 56.

Thirteen hospitals reported their liver transplants, with the University of Tokyo recording the most at 65 cases.

A Yomiuri Shimbun investigation found Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Mie University Hospital and Kumamoto University Hospital did not conduct any liver transplants from brain-dead individuals from January 2023 to August 2025.

The Mie and Kumamoto university hospitals both told The Yomiuri Shimbun that they had performed liver transplants from living donors.

“The government should review the transplant disclosures, rather than just leaving it to individual hospitals,” said Prof. Shigeto Yonemura of the University of Tokyo, an expert in medical law. “Many of the transplants are concentrated at certain hospitals, and the cause of this disparity should be looked into.”