A court-mediated settlement was reached Wednesday between the state and a Tokyo plaintiff in a forced sterilization case — the first among dozens of lawsuits filed nationwide — following a top court ruling in July that the now-defunct eugenics protection law was unconstitutional.
Sumiko Nishi, a 77-year-old resident in the city of Hino in western Tokyo, filed the lawsuit in 2022 over a hysterectomy she was forced to undergo in 1960 at the age of 14 because she has cerebral palsy.
According to Nishi’s lawyer, the state agreed to pay ¥16.5 million ($108,000) — the same amount awarded to plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case. In addition, the government will send out a notice to local governments on Thursday saying the settlements won’t be considered as income for those who are receiving welfare benefits.