The Tokyo District Court ordered the central government Wednesday to pay ¥1.06 billion in redress on behalf of workers who contracted asbestos-related diseases such as lung cancer at construction sites due to insufficient official countermeasures, but it let the makers of materials using the mineral off the hook.

It was the first ruling to acknowledge the state's responsibility among class-action lawsuits filed with six regional courts over construction workers' exposure to asbestos. In the first ruling on the lawsuits, the Yokohama District Court in May ruled totally against the plaintiffs.

In the suit filed with the Tokyo court, the plaintiffs — former construction workers and the next of kin of deceased workers — demanded a total of ¥11.8 billion in compensation from the state and 42 manufacturers of construction materials containing asbestos in connection with 308 former workers in the Tokyo metropolitan area who suffered asbestos-related diseases, including 199 who have died.