Abstract

This paper is one part of the group research into “Bioethics in Asia Based on Three Level Structure Analysis” and aims to explore the Japanese structure of end-of-life care according to the analysis way Takahashi provided. This follows research by Asai who considered about the quite different responses for artificial nutrition and hydration , extracted the different concepts, SOL and QOL, which support for each response and then analyzed the more basic ideas which underlie those concepts . We will share the first part with Asai approach but this paper will follow a different route about the other parts. It will move from to and from to .The main purpose is to explore Japanese ideas which underlie concrete moral judgments of end-of-life care. We will consider about the Japanese concept of inochi and overview how it is applied in the traditions of Shinto or Buddhism in Japan. SOL and QOL which are arguably imported concepts will be interpreted based on the Japanese concept of inochi