WWII3

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Former war orphans lose suit for state compensation

The Osaka District Court on July 7 turned down a damage suit filed by former Japanese war orphans who were left in China after World War II.

It was the first ruling among 15 lawsuits filed by 2,063 plaintiffs, representing 80 percent of former war orphans who have settled in Japan. They are demanding that the government pay each plaintiff 33 million yen in compensation.

The Osaka plaintiffs decided to appeal to a higher court. After the ruling, they visited the Welfare Ministry and political parties to ask for their support.

They claimed that the government failed to fulfill its obligation to take actions to bring them home soon after the end of WW II and help them achieve financial independence after their arrival in Japan.

The court recognized that the government's prewar policies caused the plight of the former war orphans who were separated from their families and abandoned in Manchuria (northeast China) at the end of WW II.

Judge Otaka Ichiro noted that the government could "foresee" that the displaced Japanese would have more difficulties in resettling in Japan if their repatriation was delayed and that it was obliged to take measures to realize their early return to their home country.

However, he concluded that it cannot be said that the government failed to fulfill its obligation because it was hard to work with the Chinese government to repatriate the displaced Japanese before Japan and China normalized their relations in 1972.

The court also judged that the government had no obligation to help them become economically self-reliant in Japan because, "War damages and associated hardships must be accepted equally by all citizens." - Akahata, July 7, 2005