The Justice Ministry filed a criminal complaint Friday against a Kumamoto Prefecture hot spring resort hotel that refused to accept former Hansen's disease patients as guests earlier this month.

The ministry judged that Ai Ladies Kyuden Kurokawa Onsen Hotel in the village of Minami-oguni, Kumamoto Prefecture, violated the Hotel Business Law when it canceled a reservation for about 25 people, including the former patients, who were booked to stay hotel Tuesday. The law bans hotel operators from refusing guests without proper reasons.

A local bureau of the ministry in Kumamoto Prefecture filed the complaint with the Kumamoto District Public Prosecutor's Office against Atsuko Maeda, the general manager of the hotel, and Aistar Co., a Tokyo-based cosmetics manufacturer that runs the inn, ministry officials said.

Kumamoto Gov. Yoshiko Shiotani filed a similar complaint with local prosecutors against the hotel the same day. Offenders face a fine of up to 20,000 yen.

In explaining the ministry's move, Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa said the hotel stubbornly refused to accept the booking by the former patients, even after prefectural officials repeatedly explained that the people are cured and not contagious.

The Kumamoto legal affairs bureau also issued official recommendations to Maeda and Aistar, advising them against discriminatory practices.

It is the first time the ministry has simultaneously filed criminal complaints and issued such a recommendation. The measures are required under the 1984 ministerial order when a case of discrimination comes to light.

Shuichi Yoshikai, chief of the Justice Ministry's Civil Liberties Bureau, said the incident "threw cold water" on the nation's efforts to restore the rights of patients who were subjected to the government's discriminatory policy for decades.

Later Friday, Maeda told a news conference at the hotel that the hotel takes the actions of the Justice Ministry seriously.

Information from Kyodo added