Death is defined as the irreversible cessation of life activities. In medical terms, it is determined by a doctor when certain signs are observed in an individual, including cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, dilated pupils, and loss of light reflex.

The concept of brain death emerged with advancements in lifesaving medicine. In Japan, brain death is defined by the Organ Transplant Act (1997) as “a state in which the functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem, have irreversibly stopped,” with established criteria. While brain death is considered the death of a person in cases of organ donation, there is currently no social consensus on equating brain death to the death of a person.

Furthermore, perspectives on death vary across cultural contexts, religions and belief systems, periods, and academic fields. The understanding and significance of death also differ based on the perspective from which it is discussed. Hirayama notes that the nature of death varies depending on one’s viewpoint. Death observed in the third person (such as in brain death criteria), second person (in terms of the relationship between oneself and others), and first person (one’s death) are distinctly different. Despite being traditionally viewed as taboo and associated with anxiety and fear, death has become a topic more openly discussed in daily conversations, with individuals actively disclosing their illnesses.

In nursing, promoting, maintaining, and restoring people’s health, as well as assisting them in peaceful dying, are crucial. This encompasses areas such as terminal and hospice care.

• Hirayama, M. (1991). What is thanatology? Nippon Hyoronsha.
• Japanese Death Clinical Study Group (Ed.). (1999). 12 chapters for facing death. Human and History Publishing.
• Kübler-Ross, E. (2001). The moment of death: About death and its process (Suzuki, A., Trans.). Chuokoron-Shinsha.