The Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings March 13 and rejected claims by Korean residents that the government violated the Constitution by rejecting their right to run in the Upper House election in July 1992.
In the 1992 election, 11 people planned to run from the Osaka-based Korean residents' group, but they were not accepted as candidates on the grounds that they are not Japanese citizens, according to the plaintiffs.
The group and its representative, Lee Yong Hua, filed suit with the Osaka District Court, demanding that the central government pay 4.5 million yen in compensation. They claimed the government violated the Constitution and deprived them of the right to determine how tax money is used, even though they are required to pay taxes.
Both the district court and the Osaka High Court rejected their claim. Supreme Court Justice Katsuya Onishi upheld the lower courts' rulings, stating that the law stipulating that only Japanese can be elected as lawmakers does not violate the Constitution.