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Japan Approves Compensation in Forced-Sterilization Case Using City Record

The case shows officials accepted a Sapporo consultation note as proof when hospital records were unavailable.

Overview

  • The national government recognized compensation for Sapporo resident Hidehiro Takahashi, 87, and for his late wife under the former Eugenic Protection Law.
  • Authorities relied on a Sapporo City record of the wife seeking advice on a restorative procedure after the hospital could not produce surgical files.
  • The approval notice was dated October 22, following Takahashi’s application filed in May.
  • Because the wife had died and no hospital records existed, officials could not verify surgical scars, yet the claim was still approved.
  • A supporting attorney said the decision marks a step toward relief, noting the wife was subjected around 1966 to an induced abortion and sterilization.