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Published online 31 October 2007 | Nature 450, 24-25 (2007) | doi:10.1038/450024a

News Feature

Philanthropy: A country without alms

The Japanese make few charitable donations. David Cyranoski meets a patient advocate and scientist working to change a cultural reticence about giving.

Makoto Ohama has two major goals in life. One is to feed himself, using his own hands — the 62–year-old was paralysed from the neck down in a rugby tackle 30 years ago and knows that this goal would require a leap in regenerative therapy.

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