Japan court awards ex-mayor damages over Fukushima nuclear disaster
Katsutaka Idogawa, the 79-year-old former head of the town of Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, had sought around a total of 750 million yen from the state and the utility due to the upheaval to his life caused by the forced evacuation. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the claim against the government.
While Presiding Judge Masahiko Abe recognized Idogawa was entitled to compensation for forced evacuation as his home fell within the government-mandated evacuation zone, the court rejected his claim of emotional distress for being forced to respond to the crisis as mayor and alleged health issues from radiation exposure.
Futaba co-hosts the plant with the town of Okuma. Idogawa, who was Futaba mayor until 2013, filed the lawsuit in 2015.
He told reporters that he found the ruling "unacceptable as someone who experienced the nuclear disaster as the local mayor."
In similar lawsuits filed by evacuees of the nuclear disaster, judicial rulings have consistently ordered compensation only from TEPCO since a decision by the Supreme Court in June 2022 did not recognize government liability.
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