Citing lack of evidence, court denies aid to Hiroshima survivors’ children

TOKYO — A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected a damage suit filed by a group of children of Hiroshima atomic bombing survivors seeking government support for medical costs, saying the hereditary effect of radiation exposure is still unknown.

A group of 28 plaintiffs whose parents suffered radiation exposure in the Aug. 6, 1945, U.S. atomic attack were demanding the central government include them in the medical support available to survivors.

The Hiroshima District Court said the possibility of a hereditary effect from radiation cannot be denied, but there is no established scientific consensus and the government’s exclusion of the plaintiffs from medical support is not unconstitutional.

The government has insisted there is no scientific evidence showing a hereditary effect from parents’ radiation exposure on their children.

The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in 2017 seeking $760 each from the government in damages, saying their exclusion violated the constitutional right to equality.

A similar lawsuit by their peers in Nagasaki was also rejected in December.

The plaintiffs said they plan to appeal Tuesday’s decision, which they called “unjust.”

“It was an extremely cold ruling,” plaintiff Taku Kakuda told reporters. “It was as if we were told to prove the radiation impact on humans with our bodies.”

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima destroyed the city and killed 140,000 people. The United States dropped a second bomb three days later on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

Many survivors of the bombings have lasting injuries and illnesses resulting from the explosions and radiation exposure and have faced discrimination in Japan.