It is the first time that a Japanese court has ordered the state and a firm to pay compensation for wartime slave labor.

Presiding Judge Noriyoshi Katano acknowledged that the Chinese were forced to perform hard labor under poor conditions for the Niigata-based harbor transport company Rinko Corp., adding that the defendants failed to comply with their obligation to ensure safe working conditions.

On March 29, Rinko appealed the ruling. The government is also expected to file an appeal.

The plaintiffs -- 10 former slave-laborers and two relatives of a deceased laborer -- had demanded ¥275 million in redress, claiming their being forcefully taken from China to Japan was "an illegal act conducted jointly by Japan and the company."

During the war, about 39,000 Chinese were brought to Japan and forced to work.

On March 23, the Sapporo District Court rejected an ¥860 million damages suit against the government and six companies filed by 43 Chinese who were forced to work in coal mines and at construction sites in Hokkaido during the war.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 3, 2004
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