In Japan, the Organ Transplant Law, or 臓器移植法 (Zouki Isyoku Hou), came into force on October 16 in 1997, as I wrote before. So, today, the law marks 20th anniversary. 
Today, the Tokyo Tower, the Rainbow Bridge and the Statue of Liberty in Tokyo, Japan, will be illuminated with Green Light. They seem to start lighting up in the evening today. Not only them but also many other things are illuminated with Green every year for Green Light-Up Project.
With Hearty-chan. She's so cute.
She is an angel and an official character of Japan Organ Transplant Network (its English ver. website). And Green Ribbon is a symbol of organ donation and transplant awareness. 
That's why we hold green ribbons in the photo. 
My outfit is also green. October is 臓器移植普及推進月間, the month held every year to promote public awareness of organ transplantation.
I met her when I joined an event held in Tokyo yesterday. The mass gathering is aiming at promoting organ transplantation. I hear the event will be held in Kyoto next year. I hope it will be improved so that more people will become interested in organ transplants and the Organ Transplant Law as well.
I don't have time to write about Organ Transplant Act today, so I'll update this blog post tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I'll add other photos too.
I wear a green pin badge for Green Ribbon Campaign. ... Is a word "pin badge" Japanglish?
Before I participated in the event held in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, I went to Eggs 'n Things Ginza to have its 3rd anniversary pancakes, "Caffe Latte Pancake Tower with Baked Apple," which will be available until the end of this month. I'll write about it some other time. 
They tasted really good.
Oh, there are many ministry offices in Kasumigaseki, or 霞が関, such as the Ministry of Health, Labour (Labor) and Welfare, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Ginza, 銀座, is a district near Kasumigaseki, though they are not located in the same ward, 区 (Ku).
The right one says, "20th Organ Transplant Act Since 1997".
You know what? I went to see several of them yesterday. Oh, I'm writing this right now, and today is October 17, so yesterday here means October 16, the day when the Tokyo Tower etc. were illuminated with Green Light for Green Light-Up Project.
Yesterday, I saw Tokyo Tower, the Rainbow Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and Fuji Television. ... I'm not sure whether each name should have "the" or not. Well, Tokyo Tower is a symbol of Tokyo, like Kyoto Tower is a symbol of Kyoto. Tokyo Tower is very famous in Japan and most of Japanese people know Tokyo Tower. A lot of tourists as well as Japanese visit Tokyo Tower, so it's sometimes a symbol of Japan like Mt. Fuji. 
. I like Kyoto Tower too, though.
My favorite Zojoji temple is near the Tokyo Tower. And I recommend you visit both Zojoji and Tokyo Tower while you are in Japan. I visited Zojoji temple in June this year too. Though it was a rainy day, I saw Japanese and international tourists visiting the temple. Zojoji is famous in Japan, but it's popular among visitors from other countries, too.
It was raining yesterday, but they were very beautiful.
Tokyo Tower. It started at 5:15 p.m. and ended at 10 p.m on October 16.
Tokyo Tower has its English version website, and it has a page "LIGHT UP", which shows what kind of light they use each day. Please check out the page and click 16 on the October calendar. The page says that October 16 is the day when Tokyo Tower is illuminated for "GREEN LIGHT-UP for Green Ribbon Project". It also says they use two kinds of lights, the "Landmark Tower" and "Diamond Veil", and the "Diamond Veil" is used for the project.
Fuji Television in Odaiba, Tokyo.
Rainbow Bridge & Statue of Liberty in Odaiba, Tokyo. Oh, the Statue of Liberty in Japan appeared before on my blog. I posted some photos when I mentioned it in July this year.
A beautiful night view from Eggs 'n Things. I stopped by Eggs 'n Things Odaiba. I took many photos of the Rainbow Bridge outside, but I took some while taking a rest with Hot Caffe Latte at Eggs 'n Things.
In the left photo, I wear two pin badges of Green Ribbon that I've already shown twice in this blog post.
... Oh my goodness. Since it was raining and I took a lot of pictures outside, my makeup got so messy, haha.
And ... my weird hairstyle. You know, it was a rainy day. 
By the way, this was my first time having Hot Caffe Latte at Eggs 'n Things. It was good.
As I mentioned earlier, the Organ Transplant Law took effect on October 16, 1997. And I find it was 1997 when the 1st Tully's Coffee shop in Japan was opened by its founder in Japan. The founder lost his brother due to Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy when the founder was in his early 20s and was working at a bank. So I realize this kind of law didn't exist in Japan when his brother needed a heart transplant, though 角膜腎臓移植法 (Kakumaku Jinzou Isyoku Hou), Corneal Kidney Transplant Law was effective in Japan in 1980. 
According to his book, "すべては一杯のコーヒーから Short Latte, Tall Cappuccino, and Grande Passion," while his brother was hospitalized, he thoght he should ask for donations so that his brother would be able to go to America to recieve a heart transplant, but he didn't make up his mind. I think some people think he's rich and could afford to his brother's life, but he and his family didn't have enough money to make it, so his brother passed away in Japan though he wanted to visit Lexington again. Please check out the book if you read Japanese.
Also, you should read a book called "人魚の眠る家 (Ningyo No Nemuru Ie)" by 東野圭吾, Keigo Higashino, one of my favorite novelists. I've read a lot of his works, and I like this book the best among them. This hasn't been translated into English, but I think it should be translated. It's about organ transplantation. I learned a lot of things thanks to this, including 特発性拡張型心筋症, Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy. 
Spoiler Warming: A girl who suffers from it and her family appear in the novel, and the family ...strictly speaking, family's friend and supporters collect donations, but ... well, please read the book. This book is worth reading in term that we can learn both sides. Both sides here mean, one side is donors and their families, and the other side is recipients and their families.
Well, I hope this one and his other novel "天空の蜂 (Tenkuu No Hachi)", will be translated into English someday, so that people who don't read Japanese can enjoy them and know Japan. Although they both are fiction novels, lots of people including me feel they write about Japan in our real life to some extent. That book, I'll write about sometime. Some say "天空の蜂" was a prophetic writing about ... well, some other time. The author stands on both sides again, and I think he is good at this. He can see things from various points of view. The book is not like a political propaganda at all, while it makes us think about politics, what happened and why it occurred more than six years ago in Japan.
Go back to the topic. The Organ Transplant Law was revised in 2010, the year when the founder became a Diet member. The law was enacted on June 17 and enforced on October 16 in 1997, and its revised law went into effect in 2010 after Istanbul Declaration, イスタンブール宣言, was released in 2008, but many Japanese people still try to go abroad to receive organ transplants. They need a lot of money, so they need to solicit donations. Many of these people try to go to America. I've read that Japanese children who need organ transplants have to go to the United States and there's a reason ...
This article, "Transplants set to increase" explains it. It's from the Japan Times and was written in 2010, a few months after the revised law was enforced. So, it was written almost 7 years ago, but it's worth checking out. The article also says "Compared with the United States and Europe, the number of donors has been exremely low" in Japan, and this is still the same though more than 7 years have passed since the revised law took effect on July 17, 2010.
It's said a lot of people pass away before they leave Japan for organ transplants. Some are able to travel abroad, receive organ transplants, and live longer, but others pass away while staying in other countries to wait for transplants. I hear some pass away even though they go to other countries and receive organ transplants. It's also said a great number of people are on an organ transplant waiting list in Japan, and many of them pass away while waiting for organ transplants. Although the number of organ transplants seems to have been increasing in Japan since the revised law, they say organ donors are not enough to meet the demand.
To tell the truth, I felt anger when I knew what the Declaration of Istanbul says afer I became interested in the law. But I came to understand what it means as I learned more about organ transplantation in Japan and how and why the Organ Transplant Law was enacted and revised. I guess some countries think Japan is behind them. Oh, this page on the website of Japan Organ Transplant Network explains the enactment of the Organ Transplantation Law, and the Revised Organ Transplant Act, so please check it out.
They were amazing.
Well, the Istanbul Declaration prohibits transplant tourism, 移植ツーリズム in Japanese, and organ trafficking, too. Though the declaration distinguishes it from travel for transplantation, 海外渡航移植, some travel for transplantation could be transplant tourism. The declaration also says, "Jurisdictions, countries and regions should strive to achieve self-sufficiency in organ donation by providing a sufficient number of organs for residents in need from within the country or through regional cooperation." So Japan revised the Organ Transplant Law to response the declaration because a lot of Japanese people those days also tried to go abroad so that they could receive organ transplants. The Declaration of Istanbul also stipulates "Efforts to initiate or enhance deceased donor transplantation are essential to minimize the burden on living donors," but I've read Japan still depends on living donors.
The Organ Transplant Law enacted and enforced in 1997 had strict regulations. For example, the law allowed donations of organs by a brain dead donor unless he or she left written consent, and his or her family didn't oppose donations. Besides, the law stipulated "only persons 15 years and above can express an intent to donate." So, the number of organ transplants didn't increase though the law came into effect.
Following the Declaration of Istanbul adopted in 2008, Japan revised the Organ Transplant Law and it fully came into effect on July 17, 2010. Under the revised law, organs can be donated from a person without prior written consent provided that his/her family consent is obtained. Also, the revised law enables people who aren't 15 years old or older to donate their organs.
In Japan, "brain death", or 脳死 (Noushi) in Japanese, was very controversal when the Organ Transplant Law was passed by Diet members and came into force in 1997, so it's said that was one of the reasons why the original law had strict rules. Many Japanese people at the time couldn't accept the concept of "brain death" or didn't regard it as a death of a person, and many Japanese people nowadays still can't or don't. Some say that's because Japanese people and people in other countries such as America and European countries think about life and death differently. Japanese call one's opinion about life and death 死生観 (Shiseikan). On the other hand, others say it's because some Japanese were afraid of brain death and organ transplants because of a lack of knowledge, like, the difference between 脳死 and 植物状態 (Shyokubutsu Jyotai), a vegetable state.
It's still controversal, I think. But I read the Yomiuri newspaper Oct. 16 issue (I read the real news paper, not online) and I was really surprised to learn that more and more people in Japan especially young people think positively about organ transplants.
Oh, by the way, have you ever heard of Wada Transplant, or 和田移植 (Wada Isyoku)
Many people say organ trasplatation in Japan has developed very slowly due to a heart transplant by Dr. Wada. He was accused of murder, though he was not procecuted. It's hard for me to explain it completely, so please read another English article, "Organ donation", written a few years ago. It's from the Japan Times again. He performed the first heart transplant in Japan in 1968. Yes, before the Organ Transplant Law was enacted and enfroced in 1997. This had increased distrust in organ transplantation in Japan, so Japan didn't have other heart transplants for years and it took many years to have a law on organ transplantation and brain death.
Since I wasn't there, I don't know what was really happening at that time, but I think he deserved criticism. I've only read several articles about this, though. On the other hand, I understand why the original law was established like that.
While writing this blog post, I flipped through some books including "人魚の眠る家" by Keigo Higashino. Also, I used Japanese compendium of the six codes to check provisions of the Organ Transplant Law. Usually, compendium of six codes of Japan includes not only literally six codes but also many other laws including the Organ Transplant Law and the Public Office Election Law, 公職選挙法.
Actually, I bought that compendium of laws a few years ago, so, I'm supposed to get the latest statute book in case some laws have been revised in the last two or three years. But the Organ Transplant Law was revised only once, so I checked out the provisions on my old compendium of six codes. It's not a good thing, though ... The Organ Transplant Law should also be revised sometimes like other laws, in accordance with changes of the society, the people, the world, and so on.
Though the statute book experpts only a few of the provisions of the Revised Oragan Transplant Law, I found some provisions contain a word "死体 (Shitai)" or "死亡 (Shibou)". The former means a dead body and the latter means death in Japanese. Of course, I saw some use a word "脳死 (Noushi)", brain death, too.
I read thoroughly "Organ Transplant Act 20th Anniversary Memorial Book" again, which the mass gathering I participated in the other day gave away. I read messages from people at the 3rd chapter of the book, "Testimony and proposal", and one of them is a former lawmaker and a doctor of medicine, and he is exactly the one who submitted a bill to the Diet and was struggling to pass a better law those days. After reading Keigo Higashino's book and some provisions of the revised law on the statute book, I understand what he says in the memorial book. It's difficult for me to make myself understood in English, though.
Japan Medical Association issued its final report on brain death and organ translation in 1988, saying they accept the idea that brain death is human death. He was concerned that there would be illigal transpants under laws at the time, so he took action to enact a law concerning brain death and organ transplantation in Japan so they'd become legal. As I mentioned earlier, brain death was controversal especially those days, and some Japanese people still don't think brain death as human death. The article 6 the clause 1 of the law says " .... harvest organs from a dead body (including a body of a brain-dead person) ...". Both the revised one and the original one have this term, though the article itself was widely revised.
Well, I used the compendium of six codes to check whether the revised law has some sentence that seems to have appeared on the original law, because I was confused about the difference between the original law and the revised one about definition of brain death. The orginal law said that brain death is acknowledged as human death only when a organ transplant is to be performed. In Japanese, "臓器提供の場合に限り、脳死を人の死とする." Many people say the definition hasn't changed though the law was revised and provisions changed, because under the current law, his/her family's consent to the diagnosis of brain death is needed after all, while some say the revised law regards brain death as general death.
Though the former Diet member proposing the bill didn't want a law to include this definition and other requirements such as prior written consent to recieve diagnosis of brain death, many Diet members at that time thought the law needed these for a lot of Japanese people who don't accept brain death as human death. As I said, brain death was said to be controversal at the time. He was a member of the Lower House, the House of Representatives, and ... well, I have to explain how a law is passed in the Diet of Japan, maybe some other time. He compromised to pass the law on organ transplantation by all means so that patients would receive organ transplants under a newly enacted law.
Oh, by the way.
Recently, I've been listening to なんかさ (Nankasa), a theme song of a film about organ transplantation in Japan. I watched the movie the other day because paticipants were able to do after we finished the national convention promoting of organ transplantation.
Conclusion: 
The Organ Transplant Law came into effect on October, 1997, and 20 years have passed since then, and the law was revised later. The law has to be revised again. Japan is a developed country, but as you can see, it's behind in organ transplantation. The large number of patients on a waiting list are waiting for organ transplants right now, and we shuold not forget that. Each of us may become a donor or a recipient, you know.
And I forgot to tell you this. In Japan, a recipient and a donor's family are not allowed to meet each other. They don't know each other's names, because Japan thinks their privacy has to be protected. I understand why. I know there are cruel people who ask for money or something in return for their organs. On the other hand, I've watched some Japanese programs on donors' families and recipients in the United States and other countries, and they meet each other. If I were a recipient, I'd think I wanna meet them to say thank you. I'm not sure Japan's this rule is right or not. I hear they can exchange letters through the Japan Organ Transplant Network, but I also hear they can't reveal their names, and that letters are examined by the Network before they receive and read, for these letters must not include each other's names or words or sentences that demand money, goods or something. I'm not sure how many times a year they are permitted to writte a letter. 
I hope his decesed brother is watching over us in heaven. 