Takashi Niimi, a human rights lawyer who represented the rights of Chinese nationals who were forced to work under torturous conditions at a labor camp in Akita Prefecture during World War II, died Wednesday of cardiac failure, his family said. He was 59.
Niimi, a Nagoya native, led a five-year court battle against major Japanese construction firm Kajima Corp. through November 2000 over a 60.5 million yen damages suit filed by 11 of the survivors.
Kajima agreed to set up a 500 million yen fund to compensate the Chinese victims, which was nearly 10 times what the plaintiffs had sought.
The settlement was intended to extend support to all of nearly 1,000 Chinese brought to work at the Hanaoka labor camp in Odate in the prefecture that had been operated by Kajima's wartime predecessor, Kajima Gumi.
Niimi, who was also a professor of law at the Shimane University graduate school, died in a hospital in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture. The date of his funeral has yet to be set.
Kyodo News
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