A decision Friday to order a private company to pay compensation to foreign wartime forced laborers has been hailed as an indication that the nation's judiciary may be increasingly willing to favor foreigners who suffered at the hands of Japan during World War II.
In the first ruling of its kind, the Fukuoka District Court ordered Mitsui Mining Co. to pay around 165 million yen in damages to 15 Chinese men.
"It stands as a message from the country's judicial authority that both the government and private-sector companies need to take measures to redress war victims overseas," said lawyer Shogo Watanabe, who represents a separate group of former Chinese forced laborers demanding compensation.