TOKYO: Tokyo High Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling ordering the government to pay a total of 112 million yen in damages over past aircraft noise pollution to some residents near the U.S. military's Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo.

Presiding Judge Jun Abe rejected a petition to suspend late-night and early-morning flights at the base and compensation claims for future noise damage.

Future damages "can't be predicted," Abe said.

Abe recognized damages payment of 4,000-12,000 yen per month per plaintiff to those living in areas where aircraft noise levels register 75 or higher on the weighted equivalent continuous perceived noise level, or WECPNL, an internationally recognized measure of aircraft noise.

He ordered compensation payments to be cut by a uniform 10 pct for plaintiffs who carried out noise insulation work at their homes, regardless of the number of rooms. The lower court had recognized a cut of up to 30 pct.

The high court also rejected claims of damages for low-frequency sound pollution from the Osprey transport planes deployed to the Yokota base, saying there were doubts over the objectivity of measured data presented to the court.

"I'm disappointed that flight suspension was not ordered again," said Michio Fukumoto, the 70-year-old head of the plaintiff group.

JIJI Press