Stuffed Animals Get New Limbs to Raise Awareness of Organ Transplants in Japan

Got a few old toys lying around? Here’s an excellent way to breathe life back into them.

In 2013, we published an article that highlighted Japan’s lack of organ donors, touching on a few of the reasons behind it, and noting that in 2012 there were only 303 organ transplants in the country. Comparing this to the UK’s figure of 3,960 transplants during the 2011-2012 period only emphasized how far behind Japan was at the time.

Three years later, it seems not much has changed. According to the director of the Green Ribbon Project Committee, Misa Ganse, “In Japan, there are currently about 14,000 people waiting for an organ transplant. Among them, only 300 people will receive a transplant annually. That is merely two percent.”

Ganse makes this statement in a video (below) created to promote the efforts of an organization called Second Life Toys, which provides “special transplant operations for toys.” By “infusing life to broken toys,” the company has created a metaphor for organ transplants. It’s a very sweet and relevant way to engage the public and encourage them to sign up as organ donors.

Here’s how it works: You can send in either “toys to receive transplant” or “toys to be a donor.” Second Life Toys then brings the broken ones back to life by fixing them using various parts from the donor toys. The recipient of the transplanted toy writes a thank you letter to the donor to reward their act of giving.

And, hopefully, people will be inspired to sign up as organ donors…