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Japanese court refuses to compensate war orphans

A Japanese court yesterday refused to compensate Japanese who were orphaned in China and had accused the government of ignoring them in favor of soldiers defeated in World War II.

It was the first court ruling on the thousands of Japanese left behind in China, where they were adopted by locals before returning as adults to Japan where they often endured discrimination.

A group of 32 displaced people, one of whom has died and was represented by his family, demanded the Japanese government give each of them ?33 million (US$295,000).

The lawsuit accused the government of failing to search for the orphans or to provide them adequate support afterward as it focused on helping soldiers instead of Japanese civilians in China.

The Osaka District Court said, however, there was not sufficient evidence to rule that the government was negligent in trying to find the orphans.

The court also said the administrative branch of the government was not obliged to support those who chose decades later to return to Japan.

"It is up to the legislative branch to decide whether to enact special laws to provide welfare,", presiding judge Ichiro Otaka said.

While yesterday's case was the first to see a ruling, lawsuits have been filed at 15 courts across Japan by some 2,000 war orphans.
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