A recent series of court rulings have found the state responsible for the health damage caused to construction workers who were exposed to asbestos dust. In its ruling last month on one of the damages suits filed by former construction workers and their relatives, the Osaka High Court determined that the government was able — by 1975 at the latest — to recognize the concrete risk of construction workers contracting illnesses linked to asbestos and accused the state of failing to exercise its regulatory power to protect their health, such as requiring them to wear masks to prevent them from inhaling asbestos fibers.

It appears the judiciary decision on the issue has been established — given that the government has been held liable for the health damage in 10 rulings by district and high courts. Still, the government continues to dispute its responsibility. It rejected a high court recommendation for a settlement in one of the rulings earlier this year, and appealed the Osaka High Court ruling last month to the Supreme Court. The government needs to realize that time is running short for the plaintiffs, many of whom are aging and ailing, and explore ways for settling the cases out of court, such as by creating a joint fund with construction materials makers and other parties to provide relief for the victims.

Asbestos was widely used as low-cost and fire-proof construction and heat-insulation material, particularly during Japan's postwar rapid economic growth period. However, inhaling its tiny fibers — each roughly one-5,000th the breadth of a hair — while cutting the materials at construction sites and spraying it on walls and ceilings exposed the workers to the risk of contracting such illnesses as lung cancer and mesothelioma. It takes decades for the symptoms to emerge after inhaling asbestos dust — the reason why many of the plaintiffs in the damages suits filed in recent years across the country are aging. About 70 percent of the more than 700 former construction workers who sued the government and construction materials makers have already died. The plaintiffs are calling for relief while the workers are alive.