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The autopsy rate in Japan is lower than that in other countries, and most death investigations have historically been conducted by police officers through external inspection. Although medicolegal autopsy was not performed during the samurai administration, the European death investigation system was adopted in the second half of the 19th century and judicial autopsy began in universities' forensic medicine departments. After World War II, the medical examiner system was introduced under US influence, but it was only adopted in certain areas. Further reforms were introduced in the 21st century-in 2012, two laws relating to death investigation were enacted: The Act on Promotion of Death Investigation (Promotion Act) , which provided foundational principles and included measures for investigating the causes of death and identification of bodies, and the Act on the Investigation of Cause of Death and on Identification of Bodies Handled by the Police , which recommended a procedure for death investigation, including a new autopsy system.The Death Investigation Promotion Program was to meant to be decided by the government in 2014. However, the relevant Act expired after it ran out of time. Later, in 2019, the Basic Act for Promotion of Death Investigation , the successor to the Promotion Act, was passed. This Act is significant because it sets the basic foundational principle and imposes plans created by the government. However, it remains unclear how these measures can be implemented, so further discussion and financial investment are now required.

AB Granville was a pioneer obstetrician and gynaecologic surgeon who performed the world's first myomectomy and the first ovariotomy in England. He also performed the first scientific autopsy of an Egyptian mummy, discovering the oldest known ovarian tumour. He thought it was malignant and caused her death from 'ovarian dropsy'. This study reveals the tumour to be a benign cystadenoma. Further analysis indicates she died from terminal pneumonia from tuberculosis., (© The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.)

William Osler's thesis was undertaken in 1871 to fulfil the graduation requirements of the McGill Faculty of Medicine. The thesis was based upon 20 autopsies and the preparation of gross and microscopic specimens. To the despair of historians, only a portion, the Introduction, was thought to have survived and part of which appeared in Cushing's biography. In the Osler Library is the final version of the Introduction together with parts of newly found earlier drafts and several incomplete autopsy reports and commentaries from the body of the thesis. Osler's early literary and classical erudition is clearly seen, and his philosophy of pathology as the foundation of clinical medicine strongly expressed. In addition, from a fragment of commentary on one of the postmortems, a venture into parasitology is seen representing what appears to be the first identification of the beef tapeworm in Canada.

The evolution of medical jurisprudence in ancient China is discussed in relation to Sung Tz'u (1186-1249), a district judge in the Southern Sung Dynasty. His work represents some of the earliest on the subject.