At the 115th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pathology in Sapporo, amid discussions on cutting-edge spatial and transcriptomic analysis, I found myself reflecting on something more fundamental: the changing language surrounding autopsy and dissection.
I came to Sapporo a little intimidated by the forecast low of 5°C, and as expected, last night was quite cold. My spring-summer suit was not enough, so I was glad I had packed a cardigan to wear underneath.
Gloves too.
I drank a bit too much at a gathering with my close research group, but early this morning there was a lecture by one of the “great senior” professors from our department. I hurried through breakfast and rushed out, but managed to arrive in time.
Yesterday and today were full of presentations, leaving both my stomach and my head completely full.
Spatial and transcriptomic analysis were the main themes, and I found it difficult to keep up. It felt as though the savings from the research knowledge I accumulated in my younger days had finally run out.
This trip also serves as preparation for two academic meetings next year.
I was able to thank the professors who had already agreed to give lectures, and for sessions still in planning, I identified several promising candidates. Yesterday, two of them gave tentative acceptance.
Research methods continue to evolve rapidly, but their foundation remains the human body.
This is true not only in pathology, but in all medical research. Everything ultimately returns to human beings.
One topic frequently discussed these days is the decline in the number of hospital autopsies.
Even yesterday’s general assembly meeting saw a lengthy discussion on the matter.
By the way, I have often found myself wondering how best to express the term autopsy in Japanese.
A pathological autopsy is performed to determine the cause of death and to clarify the mechanisms of disease, but in Japanese it may also be called boken (剖検).
Autopsy (= autopsy / postmortem examination) refers to an examination after death to investigate the cause of death or pathological lesions.
Dissection (= dissection / anatomy) refers to cutting apart the body to study its structure, or to the academic discipline of anatomy itself.
In everyday conversation, people may say “dissect the body to determine the cause of death,” but in English, autopsy would be the natural word in that context.
That being so, the proper Japanese term should be boken (剖検), and in fact I often use it.
The word “dissection” feels somewhat blunt, while boken sounds more specialized and refined.
However, perhaps because it is less familiar to the general public, it seems that the official terminology is being standardized as pathological autopsy (病理解剖).
Since Japan historically had no native custom corresponding to autopsy, I suspect the term was coined in parallel with anatomy. If so, I worry that the word itself may gradually disappear.
Still, as long as I am alive, it will survive so long as I continue to use it. What happens afterward is for the next generation to decide.
There is also a practical need to distinguish it clearly from forensic autopsy.
In that sense, when performed by pathologists, the unified term pathological autopsy is probably where matters will settle.
Language changes with the times.
Methods advance, terminology shifts, yet medicine always returns to the human body—and language, too, changes with the times.
