Japan Press Weekly

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2007 March 7 - 13 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Victims of Tokyo air raid in WWII sue government

On March 9, 112 survivors and relatives of victims of the Great Tokyo Air Raid that the U.S. had conducted at the end of WWII filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, demanding an apology and a total of 1.23 billion yen in compensation.

This is the first concerted lawsuit filed by victims of air raids.

Lawyer Nakayama Taketoshi at a press conference stated, “We will reveal the Japanese government’s responsibility for starting the war and having neglected victims since the end of the war.”

He pointed out that the government policy of excluding civilian victims from relief measures goes against the principle of equality for all under the law.

Plaintiffs’ leader Hoshino Hiroshi, 76, said, “Though we do not have much time left, we will be united to reveal the facts in court in order make the truth about the air raids known to the younger generations.”

Before dawn of March 10, 1945, the U.S. carried out an indiscriminate air raid on downtown Tokyo for two hours, killing about 100,000 residents and victimizing about 1 million.