The autopsy of a corpse is an act of near brutality, even cruelty.
Unlike surgeons who use scalpels to cut into patients' bodies to treat and save them, forensic pathologists use their scalpels on the dead to uncover the cause of death, often cutting out various parts of the deceased's internal organs to preserve as samples.
In East Asia, where there's a cultural preference for burying the complete body and resting in peace, dissecting a person after death, leaving the body fragmented and dismembered, is something very difficult for families to accept.
In China, which once vigorously promoted the destruction of the "Four Olds" and cremation, forensic autopsies are somewhat acceptable if they are meant to bring justice to the deceased. However, in Japan, a nation with a more conservative culture, this practice is much less acceptable, which is one of the reasons why the autopsy rate is so low there.
