The Tokyo District Court on Friday ordered the government to disclose diplomatic documents related to the 1972 reversion of Okinawa to Japan from the United States.
The court also ordered the government to pay ¥100,000 in damages to each of the 25 plaintiffs, conceding that their right to know was damaged by the state's decision not to disclose the information.
The ruling was a complete victory for the plaintiffs, including academics and journalists, who had argued the three documents they were seeking to be disclosed have already been declassified in the United States, indicating there was a secret agreement between Tokyo and Washington over the financing of Okinawa's reversion.