Japan Court Orders Govt to Pay Damages over Hibakusha Abroad

Hiroshima, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese court on Wednesday ordered the government to pay 3.3 million yen in compensation to bereaved relatives of three hibakusha atomic bomb survivors who returned to South Korea after the bombing some 80 years ago and could not receive relief aid for a long period. The hibakusha, originally from what is now South Korea, were exposed to radiation in the U.S. bombing of the western Japanese city of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II, and returned home after the war. In the lawsuit, the government argued that the right to claim compensation had expired in the case, noting that the legal action was taken more than 20 years after the abolition of a government notice stating that hibakusha would lose their right to receive related state aid if they leave the country. But Hiroshima District Court turned down the government’s argument and awarded the full amount of compensation sought by the plaintiffs. The notice in question was issued in 1974 by the then Health and Welfare Ministry, now the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. It was scrapped in 2003 after a court found it to be illegal. The plaintiffs said the three hibakusha had long been excluded from aid due to the notice, and therefore had been “forced to live with health damage and anxiety.” Through the ruling, the court “severely criticized the state’s stance of trying to block the exercise of the right, instead of giving aid,” a lawyer for the plaintiffs said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]