The University of Tokyo · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Professor Kaori Muto's research lab focuses on public health behavior during crises, particularly examining how individuals respond to government recommendations in the absence of mandatory regulations, as seen in her studies on COVID-19 precautionary behaviors in Japan. The lab also investigates social and ethical issues in genetics, especially genetic discrimination, through large-scale surveys to assess public attitudes and policy gaps. Her work bridges behavioral science, public policy, and bioethics, emphasizing societal responses to emerging health challenges and the implementation of ethical principles in law and practice. The lab employs survey-based, micro-level data analysis to inform evidence-based policy recommendations.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
The Japanese government instituted countermeasures against COVID-19, a pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus, in January 2020. Seeking "people's behavioral changes," in which the government called on the public to take precautionary measures or exercise self-restraint, was one of the important strategies. The purpose of this study is to investigate how and from when Japanese citizens have changed their precautionary behavior under circumstances in which the government has only requested their
Abstract The Japanese government instituted countermeasures against COVID-19, a pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus, in January 2020. Seeking “people’s behavioral changes,” in which the government called on the public to take precautionary measures or exercise self-restraint, was one of the important strategies. The purpose of this study is to investigate how and from when Japanese citizens have changed their precautionary behavior under these circumstances, where the government has only req
Genetic discrimination (GD) has not been discussed in East Asia as extensively as in Europe and North America. Influenced by UNESCO's universal declaration in 1997, the Japanese government took a stringent approach toward GD by releasing the Basic Principles on Human Genome Research in 2000. However, Japanese society has mostly been ignoring the prevention of GD for decades, and the principle of prohibiting GD was never adhered to in any of the Japanese laws. We conducted anonymous surveys among
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