The Matsuyama District Court on Friday ordered top officials of the village of Shingu, Ehime Prefecture, to pay around 15 million yen to the village to make up for their illegal use of taxpayers' money to build a statue of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy.
The suit was filed by a group of five villagers who claimed that village Mayor Nobuichi Hokkyu and other local officials violated the Constitution, which stipulates the separation of religion and state, by using 15 million yen in tax money to build the 6-meter high statue.
Handing down the ruling, presiding Judge Tamon Toyonaga said, "The use of tax money to create the statue went against the principle of the separation of religion and the state and thus violated the Constitution."
According to the court, the village spent 15.45 million yen to build the statue, which was completed in March 1997, within the premises of the village's facility for tourists. The facility opened last May.