TOKYO: Japan’s expected compensation payments to victims of forced sterilizations under the now-defunct eugenics law may exceed 10 million yen per person, after the Supreme Court awarded a similar amount to plaintiffs in related damages litigation.

Ruling and opposition parties are set to begin detailed discussions on paying compensation to all victims, with a suprapartisan group of lawmakers expected to submit related legislation to an expected extraordinary session of the Diet, or parliament, as early as autumn.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi apologized for the forced sterilizations at a press conference Friday. He indicated his intention to expedite the compilation of relief measures with the ruling and opposition camps, saying that the government will “consult with the Diet and consider the form of law, the scope of coverage and the content of the compensation.”

The Diet enacted a relief law in 2019 that offered a one-off payment of 3.2 million yen to forced sterilization victims. But only a small portion of the roughly 25,000 victims have been approved for payments. The scheme has been criticized for the small payment amount.

The envisioned compensation is all but certain to be higher than the 3.2 million yen. The Supreme Court awarded damages of up to 16.5 million yen per victim in the ruling, leading a government official to say that the level will be regarded as a standard when the size of compensation is considered.

Attention is also on whether bereaved families of victims can apply for the payment, which is not allowed under the relief law scheme. A source from the prime minister’s office predicted that such people would be included in the scope of the new compensation system.

JIJI Press