The Osaka District Court on Thursday dismissed a demand by plaintiffs in Japan and Taiwan for an injunction to prevent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from making future visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
The court also rejected a compensation demand by the 765 plaintiffs, including Koreans living in Japan, over the prime minister's last visit to the shrine, which honors war criminals along with war dead, in December 2013.
The plaintiffs, aged in their 20s to 80s, sought ¥10,000 each from Abe, the Japanese government and the shrine, saying Abe's visit violated the constitutional principle of separating state and religion.