Institute News
Renowned Japanese Scholar Returns to KIE to Visit
August 8, 2011
The KIE is pleased to welcome back former Senior Research Scholar and renowned colleague, Rihito Kimura, who (along with his wife Keiko) will visit Washington, DC, from August 19-26, 2011. Dr. Kimura is the President of Keisen University in Japan, and he has long been one of the leading intellectual figures on the Japanese bioethics scene. Over a span of more than 20 years, he received funding from Sony Corporation, Yamanuchi and a variety of other sources in Japan so that he could devote roughly half of each year in residence at the Kennedy Institute. The Asian Bioethics Program, formerly under his direction, served as a resource and reference on issues relating to ethics and values raised by the impact of scientific, technological, and biomedical development in Asian countries. Additionally, Kimura organized several joint projects uniting Waseda University's Center for Human Sciences and the KIE, including a series of U.S.-Japan Bioethics Conferences focusing on the cross-cultural aspects of biomedical ethics and business ethics. Originally a professor of law, Dr. Kimura's interest in bioethics stemmed from his understanding of the impact of bioethics as a field with ethical, legal and social implications.
The KIE Journal published his widely read piece, "Death and Dying in Japan," in Volume 6, Number 4, December 1996.