Our paper on better communication methods to build trust with participants of biobank projects has been selected for highlighting on the A-IMBN Research website. Special thanks for all authors and editors!

Watanabe, M.,Inoue, Y., Chang, C., Hong, H., Kobayashi, I., Suzuki, S. & Muto, K. For what am I participating? The need for communication after receiving consent from biobanking project participants: experience in Japan. Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication 10 March 2011 (doi: 10.1038/jhg.2011.19)

We published a new paper titled as 'For what am I participating? The need for communication after receiving consent from biobanking project participants: experience in Japan'.
Watanabe M, Inoue Y, Chang C, Hong H, Kobayashi I, Suzuki S, Muto K.
Journal of Human Genetics. 2011 Mar 10. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract
This paper introduces methods used to communicate with participants in the 'Biobank Japan Project (BBJP)', which is a disease-focused biobanking project. The methods and their implications are discussed in the context of the ethical conduct of the biobanking project. Informed consent, which ensures the autonomous decisions of participants, is believed to be practically impossible for the biobanking project in general. Consequently, the concept of 'trust', which is 'judgement and action in conditions of less than perfect information', has been suggested to compensate for this limitation. As a means to maintain the trust participants feel for the project, this paper proposes communication with participants after receiving their consent. After describing the limitations of informed consent within the BBJP, based on a survey we conducted, we introduce our attempts to communicate with participants, discussing their implications as a means to compensate for the limitations of informed consent at the biobanking project.Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication, 10 March 2011; doi:10.1038/jhg.2011.19.

　

International Journal of Japanese Sociology No 19 features 'Social context of Medicine in Japan'.
Kaori MUTO edited this issue and published on living liver transplantation in Japan.

IJJS Volume 19, Issue 1
Special issue: Social context of Medicine in Japan

Introduction (pages 2–3)
Kaori Muto　（武藤香織）

Unintended Consequences of “Soft” Regulations: The Social Control of Human Biomedical Research in Japan (pages 4–17)
Shimon Tashiro　（田代志門）

Reproductive Technologies and Parent–Child Relationships: Japan's Past and Present Examined through the Lens of Donor Insemination (pages 18–34)
Chiaki Shirai　（白井千晶）

Organ Transplantation as a Family Issue: Living Liver Donors in Japan (pages 35–48)
Kaori Muto　（武藤香織）

“Good Manner of Dying” as a Normative Concept: “Autocide,”“Granny Dumping” and Discussions on Euthanasia/Death with Dignity in Japan (pages 49–63)
Izumi Otani　（大谷いづみ）