Overview

• In June the Supreme Court found the ministry’s 2013–15 public-assistance reductions unlawful under the Public Assistance Act but did not award state compensation.
• On August 13 the Health Ministry launched a nine-member expert committee chaired by University of Tokyo emeritus professor Iwamura Masahiko to devise a response and calculate potential repayments.
• Six of the panel’s nine experts previously served on the ministry’s welfare-standards subcommittee, intensifying concerns over the group’s neutrality and independence.
• Social and Welfare Bureau Chief Kanuma Hitoshi cautioned that determining a remedy would be “very important and difficult” and urged committee members to conduct thorough deliberations.
• Plaintiffs have rejected the committee as illegitimate, pressing for immediate full restitution to all affected recipients and leaving key questions on eligibility, calculation and timing unresolved.