For companies and the general public
Body Donation
About Body Donation
"Body donation" means offering your body to the university unconditionally and without compensation for the purposes of medical education and research.
As a general rule, our university only accepts body donations from people who have completed the registration procedures before death.
Conditions for body donation registration
Only those who meet all of the following conditions can register.
- region
- In principle, applicants must be residents of Hyogo Prefecture.
- age
- Anyone aged 20 or older (there is no upper limit)
- Consent
- Consent of two relatives
Body Donation Registration Procedure
- 兵庫医科大学 献体専用番号（0798-45-6165）にお電話いただき、登録希望の旨申し出てください。ご連絡先などを伺った後、申込書類一式を郵送でお送りします。
- Please carefully consider the contents of the documents sent to you and discuss them thoroughly with your family.
- Please fill out and stamp the body donation registration application form and return it in the reply envelope.
- Once you receive the "Organ Donation Registration Certificate" from Hyogo Medical University, the organ donation registration procedure will be complete.
What to do after a registered donor passes away
- Please consult with the bereaved family and decide whether or not to hold a wake and funeral.
- 兵庫医科大学 献体専用番号（0798-45-6165）に献体登録者ご逝去の旨をご連絡ください。
- Please prepare the following three items before handing over the body.
1. Death certificate (copy)
The death certificate is prepared by a doctor.
The death certificate and death notification are combined, so please make a copy before submitting the death notification to the local government office.
2.Cremation permit (original)
The card will be issued in exchange for submitting a death notification to the local government office.
Please specify "Nishinomiya City Manchidani Crematorium" as the crematorium.
*It is also acceptable to write "Nishinomiya Municipal Crematorium."
3. Seal of the person representing the bereaved family
There are documents that you will need to sign and stamp when the body is handed over to you, so please have your seal ready.
- The transportation contractor (Hanshin Special Vehicles) will pick up the deceased at the date, time and place specified by the family.
- We will carry out the necessary paperwork to collect the body.
- After being transported to Hyogo Medical University, the necessary embalming procedures will be carried out and the body will be carefully laid to rest.
- When a body is to be provided for Laboratory of Anatomy practical training, we will notify the representative of the bereaved family in writing.
Return of remains
- After Laboratory of Anatomy class is over, each body will be cremated respectfully at the Manchidani Crematorium in Nishinomiya City.
- A letter of information regarding the return of the remains will be sent to the representative of the bereaved family.
- The remains and the burial and cremation permit will be returned to the family at the arranged date and time.
- If you wish to have a perpetual memorial service, after cremation the body will be kept at the university for a certain period of time and then interred at the Hyogo Medical University Volunteer Corpse Memorial in Sumiyoshi Cemetery (Higashinada-ku, Kobe).
*It will take approximately one and a half to three years from the time we receive the body until the ashes are returned to you.
Scene from the anatomy lab
Hyogo Medical University 's anatomy lab is located on the first floor of the Education and Research Building.
Students aspiring to become medical students will have the opportunity to learn the basics of human anatomy through these valuable donated bodies.
Memorial service for the voluntary dissection
Hyogo Medical University holds a non-denominational "Volunteer Corpse Memorial Service" on the third Tuesday of October every year to express gratitude to the many precious souls who donated their bodies for the advancement and development of medical science.
Families, faculty, staff, students, etc. will gather together to pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased.
The memorial monument
There is a memorial monument on the north side Hyogo Medical University Heisei Memorial Hall.
This monument expresses gratitude and condolences to all those who donated their bodies to Hyogo Medical University.
When visiting the memorial monument, please speak to the manager of the Heisei Memorial Hall.
The memorial monument for the volunteer corpses
The Hyogo Medical University Volunteer Corpses Memorial Monument is located within Sumiyoshi Cemetery (Sazanka area) in Higashinada Ward, Kobe City.
If the family wishes to have the remains enshrined in a permanent memorial, they will be stored at the university for a certain period of time and then interred in this memorial.
Anyone can visit the Volunteer Corpse Memorial at any time.
Scene from the interment ceremony
When the remains are interred at Hyogo Medical University Volunteer Corpse Memorial Monument in Sumiyoshi Cemetery, a Buddhist memorial service will be held.
The president, faculty members and technicians from the Department of Laboratory of Anatomy, administrative staff, and others will attend the ceremony and offer prayers of gratitude and repose for the souls of all those interred.
To all registered donors and their families
献体いただくに際してご心配に思われること、ご不明な点等がありましたら、献体担当（0798-45-6165）までお問い合わせください。
また、本学では献体登録者様や、ご家族様からの献体に対する思いやお考えについてのお手紙をお待ちしております。
ご送付いただける場合は、下記献体担当までお手紙をご郵送ください。
学生からの感謝の言葉につきましては、ごく一部とはなりますが、下記感想文をご一読いただければ幸いです。
Contact for inquiries regarding body donation
Hyogo Medical University University Administrative Office Nishinomiya Academic Division
Body Donation Officer