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Japan's forced sterilization victim

Yumi Suzuki, one of the plaintiffs who sued the Japanese government over forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenics protection law, speaks at a press conference after meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who offered an apology, at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Jan. 17, 2025. The Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional in July 2024 and ordered the government to pay damages. Suzuki was named to the BBC's list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2024.

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Lawsuit by chloroquine side-effect victims

TOKYO, Japan, Aug. 24 Kyodo - A group of victims who suffer side effects from the drug chloroquine rally in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district on Dec. 22, 1975, while holding a banner reading, "Give us back light." The plaintiffs lodged a damages suit later in the day for the state's alleged failure to warn patients of the danger of chloroquine, which was used to treat kidney disease. Patients were not informed that it could damage to the eyes, leading gradually to permanent blindness.(Kyodo)

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Court rejects Fukushima crisis damages order against ex-TEPCO execs

Plaintiffs and their lawyers gather in front of the Tokyo High Court in the Japanese capital on June 6, 2025, in protest over the court's decision earlier in the day to overturn a district court ruling ordering former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. to pay the utility damages for failing to prevent the 2011 crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

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Japan court rules same-sex marriage denial unconstitutional

Plaintiffs' lawyers speaks to the press in the central Japan city of Nagoya on March 7, 2025, after the Nagoya High Court became the fourth high court in the country to rule that the country's lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

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Japan court rules same-sex marriage denial unconstitutional

Plaintiffs' lawyers speaks to the press in the central Japan city of Nagoya on March 7, 2025, after the Nagoya High Court became the fourth high court in the country to rule that the country's lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

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Japan court rules same-sex marriage denial unconstitutional

Plaintiffs' lawyers and supporters celebrate in the central Japan city of Nagoya on March 7, 2025, after the Nagoya High Court became the fourth high court in the country to rule that the country's lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

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Japan court rules same-sex marriage denial unconstitutional

Plaintiffs' lawyers and supporters celebrate in the central Japan city of Nagoya on March 7, 2025, after the Nagoya High Court became the fourth high court in the country to rule that the country's lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

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CORRECTED: Japan court rules same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

Plaintiffs rejoice outside the Tokyo High Court on Oct. 30, 2024, after it ruled that Japan's lack of legal recognition for same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

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CORRECTED: Japan court rules same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

Plaintiffs rejoice outside the Tokyo High Court on Oct. 30, 2024, after it ruled that Japan's lack of legal recognition for same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

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CORRECTED: Japan court rules same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

Plaintiffs rejoice outside the Tokyo High Court on Oct. 30, 2024, after it ruled that Japan's lack of legal recognition for same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

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Damages suit over Japan's same-sex marriage ban

Plaintiffs head to the Tokyo High Court on Oct. 30, 2024, to hear the court's ruling on their claim for damages over Japan's same-sex marriage ban.

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Damages suit over Japan's same-sex marriage ban

Plaintiffs head to the Tokyo High Court on Oct. 30, 2024, to hear the court's ruling on their claim for damages over Japan's same-sex marriage ban.

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Damages suit over Japan's same-sex marriage ban

Plaintiffs head to the Tokyo High Court on Oct. 30, 2024, to hear the court's ruling on their claim for damages over Japan's same-sex marriage ban.

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Meta faces $2.8 mil lawsuits in Japan over fake ads

Lawyers attend a press conference in Osaka on Oct. 29, 2024, after filing a lawsuit with the Osaka District Court against Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc. over advertisements that fraudulently solicited investments with fake celebrity endorsements. The U.S. technology giant and its Japanese arm are facing lawsuits filed with district courts in Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba and Saitama, with 30 plaintiffs seeking a total of 435 million yen ($2.8 million) in damages.

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Meta faces $2.8 mil lawsuits in Japan over fake ads

Lawyers head to the Osaka District Court in Osaka on Oct. 29, 2024, to file a lawsuit against Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc. over advertisements that fraudulently solicited investments with fake celebrity endorsements. The U.S. technology giant and its Japanese arm are facing lawsuits filed with district courts in Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba and Saitama, with 30 plaintiffs seeking a total of 435 million yen ($2.8 million) in damages.

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Court ruling on Nagasaki A-bomb survivors

Photo taken on Sept. 9, 2024, shows a courtroom at the Nagasaki District Court in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan. The court ruled the same day in support of 15 of the 44 plaintiffs who were seeking state health care benefits as survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki after being exposed to the blast outside the state-designated area.

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Japan justice minister apologizes over forced sterilization

Japanese Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi bows in apology in a meeting with plaintiffs at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 2, 2024, following the Supreme Court's decision issued the previous month that the government must pay damages to those who were forced to undergo sterilization surgery in the 1950s to 1970s under a now-defunct eugenics protection law.

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Japan top court orders damages for forced sterilization

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expresses an apology at the premier's office in Tokyo on July 3, 2024, following Japan's Supreme Court's order earlier in the day to the government to pay damages to plaintiffs who were forced to undergo sterilization surgery in the 1950s to 1970s under a now-defunct eugenics protection law.

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Japan top court orders damages for forced sterilization

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at the premier's office in Tokyo on July 3, 2024, over the Supreme Court's order earlier in the day to the government to pay damages to plaintiffs who were forced to undergo sterilization surgery in the 1950s to 1970s under a now-defunct eugenics protection law.

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Japan court ruling on unrecognized Minamata victims

Unrecognized sufferers of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease and their lawyers meet the media outside the Niigata District Court in Niigata, northwest of Tokyo, on April 18, 2024, after it recognized 26 plaintiffs as eligible for compensation by the company responsible but did not award them relief payments from the state.

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Japan court ruling on unrecognized Minamata victims

Unrecognized sufferers of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease march to the Niigata District Court in Niigata, northwest of Tokyo, on April 18, 2024. The court later in the day recognized 26 plaintiffs as eligible for compensation by the company responsible but did not award them relief payments from the state.

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Japan court ruling on unrecognized Minamata victims

Unrecognized sufferers of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease march to the Niigata District Court in Niigata, northwest of Tokyo, on April 18, 2024. The court later in the day recognized 26 plaintiffs as eligible for compensation by the company responsible but did not award them relief payments from the state.

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S. Korea's top court upholds wartime labor rulings against Japan firm

Plaintiffs in damages suits involving Koreans forced to work in Japan during World War II celebrate in Seoul on Jan. 25, 2024, after South Korea's Supreme Court rejected appeals by Japanese machinery maker Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. and upheld decisions by lower courts ordering the company to pay damages to them.

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S. Korea's top court upholds wartime labor rulings against Japan firm

Plaintiffs in damages suits involving Koreans forced to work in Japan during World War II celebrate in Seoul on Jan. 25, 2024, after South Korea's Supreme Court rejected appeals by Japanese machinery maker Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. and upheld decisions by lower courts ordering the company to pay damages to them.

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Korean plaintiffs in wartime labor suit

Plaintiffs in a damages suit involving Koreans forced to work in Japan during World War II are seen in front of South Korea's Supreme Court in Seoul ahead of a ruling on the case on Jan. 25, 2024.

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S. Korea top court upholds wartime labor rulings against Japan firms

Plaintiffs and others celebrate in Seoul on Dec. 28, 2023, after South Korea's Supreme Court upheld decisions by lower courts ordering Japanese companies Hitachi Zosen Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to pay the plaintiffs damages over wartime labor.

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South Korean Foreign Minister Park

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin is surrounded by reporters in Seoul on Feb. 28, 2023, after meeting with compensation lawsuit plaintiffs over alleged forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

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South Korean Foreign Minister Park

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin is surrounded by reporters in Seoul on Feb. 28, 2023, after meeting with compensation lawsuit plaintiffs over alleged forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

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South Korean Foreign Minister Park

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin is surrounded by reporters in Seoul on Feb. 28, 2023, after meeting with compensation lawsuit plaintiffs over alleged forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

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Osaka court rules July election vote gap unconstitutional

OSAKA, Japan - Lawyers hold a sign saying the Osaka High Court has ruled the July 2013 House of Councillors election unconstitutional, in front of the court in Osaka on Dec. 18, 2013. The high court said the disparity of up to 4.77-fold in the weight of votes in the election was unconstitutional but dismissed the plaintiffs' demand that election results in six western Japan constituencies be nullified.

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First settlement reached in hepatitis damages suits against state

FUKUOKA, Japan - A total of 29 hepatitis C sufferers suing the state and drugmakers for damages settled suits with the state in Osaka and Fukuoka on Feb. 4, the first such settlement among a series of similar lawsuits filed by about 240 people nationwide since 2002. Photo shows plaintiffs smiling during a news conference the same day after the settlement of their suit at the Fukuoka High Court.

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Korean plaintiffs in wartime labor suit

SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 29 Kyodo - Plaintiffs in a damages suit involving Koreans forced to work in Japan during World War II are seen ahead of their visit to South Korea's Supreme Court in Seoul to hear a ruling on the case on Nov.29, 2018.

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Driving school ordered to pay damages over tsunami deaths

SENDAI, Japan - One of the plaintiffs (2nd from L) who sought damages from a driving school over the deaths of 25 students and a part-time employee in the March 2011 disaster meets with reporters in the northeastern Japan city of Sendai on Jan. 13, 2015. The Sendai District Court ordered the school to pay 1.9 billion yen to relatives of the victims, ruling it could have predicted the arrival of a tsunami after a massive earthquake hit.

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Fresh suit filed over planned restart of 4 Kansai Electric reactors

FUKUI, Japan - Plaintiffs head to the Fukui District Court on Dec. 5, 2014, to file for an injunction order to suspend the planned restart of four nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture operated by Kansai Electric Power Co. They are asking that the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at the Takahama plant and Nos. 3 and 4 units at the Oi plant, currently offline for safety screening by the nuclear regulator, not be restarted.

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Court orders Nachi-Fujikoshi to compensate forced laborers

SEOUL, South Korea - A woman, one of the plaintiffs filing a lawsuit against Japan's Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. to seek compensation for their forced labor, speaks to reporters in Seoul on Oct. 30, 2014, after the Seoul Central District Court ordered Fujikoshi to pay compensation ranging from 80 million to 100 million won (about $76,000-$95,000) each. Thirteen victims of forced labor and the relatives of four now-deceased victims have claimed they were deceived into going to study in Japan's Toyama City, where the company is based, and forced to perform hard labor without sufficient food and sleep during the World War II.

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Court orders Nachi-Fujikoshi to compensate forced laborers

SEOUL, South Korea - A woman, one of the plaintiffs filing a lawsuit against Japan's Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. to seek compensation for their forced labor, speaks to reporters in Seoul on Oct. 30, 2014, after the Seoul Central District Court ordered Fujikoshi to pay compensation ranging from 80 million to 100 million won (about $76,000-$95,000) each. Thirteen victims of forced labor and the relatives of four now-deceased victims have claimed they were deceived into going to study in Japan's Toyama City, where the company is based, and forced to perform hard labor without sufficient food and sleep during the World War II.

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'Green owner' program plaintiffs meet press

OSAKA, Japan - Plaintiffs meet the press in Osaka on Oct. 9, 2014, after the Osaka District Court ordered the government to pay 85 people a combined 91 million yen in damages for failing to sufficiently warn them of the risks of investment in state-owned forests. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit over the "green owner" program had sought about 500 million yen in compensation.

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Top court says gov't liable for asbestos exposure

TOKYO, Japan - Supporters hold up banners after the Supreme Court rules in favor of plaintiffs who sued the central government seeking compensation for damage to health from asbestos, in front of the top court in Tokyo on Oct. 9, 2014. The court ruled for the first time in Japan that the government was responsible for failing to prevent workers from being exposed to harmful asbestos.

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Mazda settles employment suit

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Lawyers for 15 former temporary employees of Mazda Motor Corp. smile during a press conference in Hiroshima, western Japan, on July 22, 2014, after the automaker and the plaintiffs reached a settlement in the Hiroshima High Court in a lawsuit over Mazda's practice of denying workers regular employee status after long services as temp staff. The 15 former temp workers will each receive an undisclosed sum from Mazda, but will not return to the car company.

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Ruling on secret Okinawa return deal

TOKYO, Japan - Takichi Nishiyama, a former reporter for major Japanese daily The Mainichi Shimbun, holds a press conference in Tokyo on July 14, 2014, after he and other plaintiffs lost a lawsuit against the state over the disclosure of secret diplomatic documents concerning the 1972 reversion of Okinawa to Japan from U.S. control. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court's acknowledgement that the government may have surreptitiously destroyed the documents, but rejected the plaintiffs' appeal over the Tokyo High Court decision not to order the government to disclose them.

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Plaintiffs ask power co. to accept court ruling

OSAKA, Japan - A group of plaintiff opposing the restart of the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture rally in front of the utility's headquarters in Osaka on May 22, 2014, urging the company not to appeal the Fukui District Court ruling the previous day against the restart of the reactors due to safety concerns.

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Court orders power supplier not to operate Oi nuke plant

FUKUI, Japan - Lawyers for plaintiffs seeking to stop the restart of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant hold banners in front of the court house in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, on May 21, 2014, saying the Fukui District Court acknowledged the plaintiffs' claims. The court ordered Kansai Electric Power Co. not to resume operating the reactors. The Nuclear Regulation Authority is now scrutinizing whether the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture is safe enough to resume operating.

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Flight suspension order at Atsugi base

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Lawyers hold banners before plaintiffs in front of the Yokohama District Court in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 21, 2014, after the court ordered the government to suspend nighttime flights by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force at Atsugi base due to excessive aircraft noise. The base near Tokyo is jointly used by the U.S. Navy and Japan's MSDF.

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Flight suspension order at Atsugi base

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Plaintiffs celebrate in front of the Yokohama District Court in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 21, 2014, after the court ordered the government to suspend nighttime flights by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force at Atsugi base due to excessive aircraft noise. The base near Tokyo is jointly used by the U.S. Navy and Japan's MSDF.

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Suit over Abe's Yasukuni visit

TOKYO, Japan - Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state and Yasukuni Shrine hold a press conference in Tokyo on April 21, 2014. The 273 plaintiffs including relatives of the war dead, religious people and South Koreans filed the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court the same day, claiming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit in December 2013 to the Shinto shrine was unconstitutional.

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Suit over Abe's Yasukuni visit

TOKYO, Japan - Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state and Yasukuni Shrine enter the Tokyo District Court on April 21, 2014. The 273 plaintiffs including relatives of the war dead, religious people and South Koreans filed the lawsuit the same day, claiming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit in December 2013 to the Shinto shrine was unconstitutional.

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Chinese group sues Mitsubishi Materials over wartime forced labor

SHIJIAZHUANG, China - A lawyer representing 149 Chinese plaintiffs speaks to reporters in Shijiazhuang, Heibei Province, on April 2, 2014, after filing a lawsuit against Japan's Mitsubishi Materials Corp seeking 227 million yuan (about $37 million) in compensation from the company for wartime forced labor in Japan.

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Suit against Kanebo

SHIZUOKA, Japan - Plaintiffs (front, back to camera), and their lawyers hold a press conference in the city of Shizuoka, central Japan, on April 2, 2014. Fourteen people, whose skin broke out in white blotches after using Kanebo Cosmetics Inc.'s skin-whitening products filed a suit that day, seeking damages of 5 million yen each for psychological suffering caused by the company's products.

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High court's ruling on upper house polls

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Photo taken Dec. 5, 2013, shows a courtroom of the Hiroshima High Court in the city of Hiroshima, where the court ruled the same day the disparity in the weight of votes in July's House of Councillors election was "in a state of unconstitutionality," while dismissing the plaintiffs' demand that the electoral results in two western Japan constituencies -- Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures -- be nullified. (Pool photo)

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Ruling on wartime labor

SEOUL, South Korea - Yeo Woon Taek (L), one of the plaintiffs in a wartime labor lawsuit, answers a reporter's question in front of the Seoul High Court on July 10, 2013. The court ordered the same day Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to pay compensation to four South Koreans who were forced to work at the company's steel mill in Japan during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.