Following renowned swimmer Rikako Ikee's announcement of her leukemia diagnosis, public interest in donating bone marrow has increased, especially in Hiroshima Prefecture, which has more than its fair share of patients as a result of the atomic bombing in 1945.
In Hiroshima, though, the eligible donors are getting older, forcing officials to hammer out plans to find new donors.
Bone marrow provides blood-forming cells for individuals with such diseases as leukemia. In the prefecture, a little over 60 percent of all donors are in their 40s or 50s, with the ratio of those in their 20s or 30s below the national average.