A former student at an elite high school thought nothing about the name of the suspected gunman who killed Shinzo Abe when it was released to the public on July 8.
The Supreme Court settled the issue of compensation for around 3,700 people forced to evacuate from their homes due to the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in 2011 by ordering Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the stricken facility, to pay about 1.4 billion yen ($12.2 million) in damages.
Plaintiffs arrive at the Osaka High Court in August 2018 to hear its ruling on compensation claims for health damage caused by asbestos. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The Supreme Court ruled that construction materials companies, not just the central government, must also be held accountable for not acting earlier to prevent health damage from inhalation of asbestos among former construction workers.
Its decision could have wide-ranging ramifications as 24 similar lawsuits have been filed around Japan by former construction workers, a number of whom are now deceased, and their bereaved family members seeking compensation from the state as well as construction companies.
The father of a junior high school boy who killed himself in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, speaks at a news conference in Otsu on Jan. 25 after the Osaka High Court’s decision was finalized. (Chifumi Shinya)
Two former junior high school students that bullied a classmate who took his own life in 2011 must pay 4 million yen ($38,600) in compensation to his parents, according to the Supreme Court.
In a decision dated Jan. 21, Japan’s top court finalized the Osaka High Court s ruling on the case, which had upheld a lower court decision but significantly reduced the compensation payment.
Tatsuya Ishida, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said the finalization of the ruling is significant because it recognizes the causal relation between bullying and suicide.
It was a moment that Iwao Hakamada had long been waiting for. But at 84 years old and with psychological problems developed during decades on death row, he could not grasp its significance.
His sister, Hideko, 87, showed him a letter from the Supreme Court about a decision that could lead to his acquittal of a conviction for a 1966 multiple murder that he has insisted he did not commit.
The Supreme Court on Dec. 22 overturned a lower court ruling and sent the case back to the Tokyo High Court, giving Hakamada a chance to clear his name in a retrial.
Hakamada, however, told her sister, “The retrial has already ended.”