Plaintiffs prepare to enter the Tokyo District Court on Jan. 30. KYODO PHOTO

The court said hardship suffered by the plaintiffs came from the war and cannot be attributed to the state's negligence. It also said the state did not have an obligation to speedily repatriate war-displaced nationals or a legal obligation to support them in their lives after their return.

The Jan. 30 ruling was closely watched as it came on the heels of two earlier district court decisions in similar lawsuits in which an Osaka court ruled in favor of the state and a Kobe court in favor of plaintiffs.

The new ruling is expected to have a large impact on damages suits filed with the Tokyo court by some 1,000 people -- often referred to as "war orphans" in Japan -- as those suits are also being presided over by the same judge as the Jan. 30 case.

The 40 plaintiffs in the Jan. 30 case, who live in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures, demanded compensation from the state totaling ¥1.32 billion, or ¥33 million each.

In the suit, the plaintiffs argued that the state had an obligation to realize their early repatriation, to provide them with language training and to help them find work.

But the state failed to meet its obligations, they argued, saying that it acted too slowly by only initiating in 1981 a program to bring war-displaced Japanese to Japan to search for their relatives and that it failed to provide them with sufficient support once they resettled here.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 3, 2007
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