When the catastrophic earthquake of March 11, 2011, struck the Tohoku region, Makoto Yanagisawa was researching stem cells at a university laboratory in the United States. “I was thinking of returning (to Japan) someday, but decided to do so sooner after I kept seeing ...

Seiichi Hirabayashi, 59, a drug store clerk in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, underwent an operation in April 2006 to remove epithelial cancer in his mouth, transplanting flesh and skin from his chest to his left cheek. The patched skin formed a ringlike shape measuring 5 ...