Japan Press Weekly

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2013 January 30 - February 5 [HISTORY]

Osaka air raid victims bring case to Supreme Court

A group of 21 plaintiffs in a lawsuit demanding state compensation for damages caused by Osaka air raids on January 29 appealed the Osaka High Court ruling to the Supreme Court.

In December 2008, 23 survivors and relatives of victims of the Osaka air raids by the U.S. military at the end of WWII, which killed more than 10,000 civilians, filed a lawsuit with the Osaka District Court, claiming that the government’s discrimination between former military personnel and civilians regarding compensation for wartime sufferings is unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs in court battle argue that it is unjust that only soldiers and civilians employed by the Imperial Japanese military are entitled to public compensation while citizens, who also suffered damages from the war, are left without receiving any public assistance. They call for the establishment of a public system to compensate the citizens affected.

Following the 2011 Osaka District Court ruling, the Osaka High Court on January 16 dismissed the plaintiffs’ demands by arguing that suffering and hardship during the war are something that all Japanese citizens had to endure equally.

In a statement issued after the appeal, the plaintiffs expressed their determination to increase their efforts in order to get the top court to accept their demands.