[The Dark Side of the Organ Transplant Business] Sending Patients to Cambodia… Former NPO Chairman Made a Fortune Even While on Bail

Made a quick 45 million yen even while on bail

Shortly before 9:00 a.m. on July 9, a man emerged from the Arakawa Police Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, covering his face with both hands. Peering through the gaps between his hands to glance at his surroundings, he confirmed the presence of the gathered press corps before walking away with his face completely concealed. Perhaps this was a “lesson” he learned when he was arrested three years ago.

On July 7, a joint investigation team comprising the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Aichi and Hyogo Prefectural Police arrested Hiromichi Kikuchi (66), a former director of the NPO “Association for Support of Patients with Intractable Diseases” (now dissolved); Takaki Ando (66), representative director of the General Incorporated Association “International Medical Consultation Office”;and Mitsuru Kikuchi (42), a company employee and the eldest son of suspect Hiro-michi Kikuchi, on suspicion of violating the Organ Transplant Act (facilitating organ transplants for compensation). The “Consultation Office” is believed to have been effectively managed by suspect Hiro-michi Kikuchi.

They are suspected of illegally arranging a transplant surgery in Cambodia for a man in his 70s suffering from kidney disease and receiving 12.36 million yen in return.

“The man reportedly contacted the ‘Consultation Office’ after seeing its website in August ’25. The suspects explained that ‘this is support, not brokerage, so it’s not illegal,’ and the man requested the transplant surgery.

The man traveled to Cambodia in January ’26. Suspect Mitsuru reportedly accompanied him there. He reportedly paid approximately 25 million yen to a Chinese coordinator and underwent a kidney transplant from a female donor in her 20s at a hospital in Phnom Penh.Suspect Kikuchi received a total of 12.36 million yen—3 million yen in administrative fees and 9.36 million yen in gratuities—as payment for the arrangement. The man’s condition is reportedly stable following the transplant, but he reportedly had difficulty finding a hospital in Japan willing to treat him.

“It is believed that Kikuchi and his associates were involved in arranging overseas transplants for at least four patients between March of last year and January of this year through the ‘Consultation Office,’ receiving a total of 45 million yen. Most of the money was reportedly used to repay Kikuchi’s debts,” said a reporter from the social affairs desk of a national newspaper.

Kikuchi has also been indicted for arranging organ transplants without a license in ’23. After being released on bail, he opened the “Consultation Office” and continued arranging transplants until he began serving an eight-year prison sentence this past January.

If you have to wait in line, it will take 15 years

“The Organ Transplant Act, enacted in 1997, prohibits the arrangement of donors for patients (recipients) seeking transplants without permission from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, as well as the arrangement of donors for a fee.

Furthermore, to prevent organ trafficking, international rules stipulate that organ donation and transplantation must take place entirely within the country. The ‘Istanbul Declaration,’ adopted by the International Society for Organ Transplantation in 2008, declared a ban on organ trafficking and ‘transplant tourism’—transplants performed overseas.“In this case, if money was paid to the female donor in Cambodia, it could constitute organ trafficking,” said a medical writer.

Although there are some exceptions, such as heart transplant surgeries in the United States, organ transplants in Japan are limited to transplants from donors who have been declared brain dead or have suffered cardiac arrest, or living-donor transplants from healthy relatives or other donors. In the former case, agencies arranging patients must obtain government approval. However, a chronic “shortage of donors” remains a problem.

“According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of organ donors per million people in Japan was 1.13 in 2024. Globally, Spain (53.93) and the United States (49.70) stand head and shoulders above the rest, but this figure is far too low even when compared to South Korea’s 7.75.”

The Japan Organ Transplant Network cites several factors behind Japan’s lower organ donation rates compared to other countries, including a legal system that recognizes brain death as the point of death only in cases of organ donation following brain death, strict guidelines regarding organ transplantation, a limited number of facilities capable of performing organ transplants, and an insufficiently developed support system within medical institutions.

“Furthermore, even if an individual has expressed a wish to donate organs, the family’s consent is required for the actual donation. Since there are many cases where organ donation cannot proceed due to family opposition, the Network emphasizes the importance of individuals expressing their wishes and discussing them with their families in advance” (ibid.).

According to the Japan Organ Transplant Network, there were 158 organ donations in ’25. Each year, only 4 percent of those on the waiting list receive a transplant, meaning most must wait their turn. The average waiting time is about three and a half years for a heart and one year for a liver. For kidneys—for which the number of applicants is by far the highest—the wait is said to be about 15 years.

While the transplant business, which cleverly preys on the vulnerability of such patients, should be cracked down on, the organ transplant system itself also needs to be improved.

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