The Tokyo District Court has ordered Tokyo Electric Power Company to pay more than ¥63 million in damages to people who fled Fukushima Prefecture after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, while dismissing the claims against the state.
More than 230 residents and others sued TEPCO and the government over the 2011 accident, seeking compensation for the losses they suffered after leaving their homes.
The ruling adds to a pattern in the lawsuits that followed the disaster: courts have repeatedly found the utility liable for the evacuation while declining to hold the government responsible for it.
The court's reasoning on the state's liability, and the basis on which it calculated the ¥63 million figure, were not available in the account of the decision.