Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued a statement of apology Friday to former Hansen's disease patients for a government policy that forced them into decades of isolation.
The written statement was approved by Koizumi's Cabinet in the morning, along with a separate government statement on his decision Wednesday not to appeal against a landmark court ruling ordering the state to pay compensation to the patients.
"We seriously accept the fact that the policy to put Hansen's disease patients in institutions served as a major limitation and restriction to many patients' human rights, and that there has been extremely severe prejudice and discrimination against such people among the public," the document says.