The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by a naturalized Japanese seeking damages from a city government in Hokkaido in connection with a bathhouse's policy of barring foreigners from the facility.
The top court upheld district and high court rulings that found the Otaru Municipal Government had no obligation to pay damages sought by David Aldwinckle, a university associate professor and local resident, and two foreign nationals.
The two lower courts said a treaty Japan signed against racial discrimination does not oblige local-level authorities to enact specific ordinances. The Otaru government, for its part, had instructed the bathhouse to stop rejecting foreigners.