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The story
According to Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data, the number of blood donors in their 20s fell from roughly 1.13 million in fiscal 2009 to about 660,000 in fiscal 2024. A Nippon Foundation survey found that fewer than 10% of people in their teens and 20s have ever donated blood. On 5ch’s “Live News (Anything Goes)” board — a general live-commentary board — this figure sparked a thread with over 40 replies debating why young people won’t donate, from the point that being on regular medication disqualifies you, to frustration with a system that leans on unpaid “goodwill,” to calls for paid donations or tax breaks.
What people said
A Nippon Foundation survey found that fewer than 10% of people aged 10 to 29 have ever donated blood, even once.
Recent statistics show about 210,000 donors aged 16-19, about 660,000 in their 20s, and about 700,000 in their 30s — the younger the age group, the fewer the donors.
I can't donate anymore since I can't go without my meds
If it's just a little medication, quit it before you get dependent, dumbass
Cracks me up thinking some idiot might die because I didn't donate
Bet you'll remember this post while you're dying in an accident because there wasn't enough blood for your transfusion
The ones getting squeezed are the geezers in their 40s
Back when selling blood was legal, a lot of people pushed themselves too hard selling it and died
There's no point doing something that carries risk with zero upside
It was America that made the HIV-tainted blood products
They should build a system that can sustain itself without relying on people's goodwill
You're the one who'll die from lack of blood when you get in an accident
That's actually a fair point
There's even a theory going around lately that the intestines produce blood (a fringe pseudo-science claim)
Is there actual data backing that up?
Also give out way more detailed test results
Do that and I'll consider it
It's already way more detailed than a regular health checkup, that should be plenty
That's basically begging
Back in the day it was called bloodletting — they paid you to have your blood drawn and thrown away
Why don't they do that?
Can't — their blood pressure's too high
Old folks probably have chronic conditions and are on medication
Do old people really run that short on blood? Why?
Also I don't know my own blood type so I probably can't anyway
They check your blood type every time
They take about a millimeter of blood from your fingertip right before
It's basically like recycling collection
With prices this high, something like that might actually help
The Red Cross's blood donation program basically runs at a loss
Who told you it's a huge money-maker?
How rude of you
You'll do as today's target, I guess
A tax break for donors sounds reasonable
Though honestly, taxes are too high even without that — they should just scrap the consumption tax
Background and Key Points of This Debate
Japan’s blood supply shifted entirely to unpaid, volunteer donation in 1964, after an incident in which the U.S. ambassador to Japan was stabbed and the poor quality of “purchased blood” used in his transfusion became a public scandal — ever since, “voluntary, unpaid donation” has been national policy. The 1980s also saw the drug-induced HIV scandal, in which unheated blood products imported from overseas spread HIV infections; the exchange in replies #27 and #31 is a reference to that history. Elderly people often fail to meet donation eligibility criteria because of high blood pressure or regular medication, which is part of why the burden of supplying blood falls disproportionately on the working-age population — feeding young people’s sense of being unfairly squeezed. Calls for paid donation remain persistent, but the Japanese Red Cross Society’s blood donation program itself reportedly runs at a loss, which is why some in the thread proposed alternatives like tax breaks instead.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (“Live News (Anything Goes)” board) thread “[Mystery] Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: “Young people these days don’t donate blood at all. Makes no sense”.”
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