The Physician-Patient Relationship and Medical Ethics in Japan

Abstract

As terms and concepts of bioethics (e.g., informed consent, paternalism, autonomy) became popular in a relatively short period [in Japan], a particular aspect germane to the physician-patient relationship became evident, i.e., a strong paternalistic tendency in Japanese medical settings. In the following sections we review the discussions concerning the physician-patient relationship that have appeared in the recent literature and attempt to clarify the influence of religious feeling, the view of nature, and the view of life and death, factors that might play important roles in the paternalistic tradition.