The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Hiromichi Kikuchi Tuesday over illegal organ transplant brokering in Cambodia. Investigators had spent a full year building this case following his previous conviction. Notably, authorities suspected Kikuchi resumed recruiting patients while released on bail earlier.
Kikuchi previously faced arrest in February 2023 for arranging unlicensed organ transplant procedures in Belarus. Although released on bail in July 2023, his Supreme Court appeal was later dismissed. Consequently, he began serving his prison sentence starting this past January.
However, blog posts published in May 2025 alarmed investigators monitoring his continued activities closely. These posts described patients returning home after successful overseas transplant surgeries recently completed. Furthermore, Kikuchi advertised his services, promising legal channels and comprehensive post-operative support.
Through Kokusai Iryo Sodanshitsu, his Tokyo-based association, Kikuchi solicited clients seeking transplant procedures abroad. Investigators traced travel records and interviewed patients, confirming living-donor transplants occurred in Cambodia. Since existing law only covered cadaver-based transplants, prosecutors applied different legal provisions instead.
Bank records ultimately provided the breakthrough investigators needed to build their case. One patient deposited three million yen into the association’s account late last year. Additionally, nine million yen went directly into Kikuchi’s personal account around the same period.
Investigators determined that 12.36 million yen constituted illegal compensation for transplant mediation services. That patient separately paid approximately 25 million yen to a Chinese coordinator overseas. Meanwhile, transplant tourism remains a persistent global problem despite international declarations condemning the practice.
The 2008 Declaration of Istanbul specifically prohibits organ trafficking and exploitative transplant tourism practices worldwide. Nevertheless, overseas transplants continue occurring, sometimes causing health complications for returning Japanese patients. Unlike South Korea and Taiwan, Japan currently lacks systems tracking overseas transplant procedures.
Dokkyo University professor Koichi Jimba emphasized that transparency could help prevent future organ transplant fraud. Moving forward, experts hope Japan establishes clearer reporting requirements for citizens seeking transplants abroad.
