A man has sued the Toyama Prefectural Government after a large tree in the prefecture fell on his Toyota 2000GT and destroyed it in the city of Nanto in 2014.
The owner of the car, who lives in Nara Prefecture, filed the suit with the Nara District Court on April 7, and is seeking ¥39 million in damages from the prefecture.
According to court papers, the tree fell and hit the classic car along Route 156 in the city of Nanto on June 8, 2014. The man had bought the car three months earlier for ¥35 million.
The Toyota 2000GT, a rare sports car sold in Japan in the late 1960s, is treasured among vintage car lovers.
At the time, the car had been loaned to another man in Nara Prefecture. The amount sought by the plaintiff includes the cost of treatment that the then-driver incurred after being injured in the accident.
The plaintiff argues that Toyama Prefecture could have predicted the chances of the tree falling in the Toyama city and taken preventive measures.
An official at Toyama Prefecture's road management section declined comment, saying the prefectural government has not received the filed court papers yet.
