The government on Tuesday filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against a high court ruling ordering the state and three companies to pay 1.91 billion yen in compensation to former coal miners who contracted black-lung disease and to families of those who died from the disease.
"It is inappropriate to ask the state to compensate for companies' negligence of duty to encourage workers to wear masks" to prevent them from contracting pneumoconiosis, said Takeo Hiranuma, minister of economy, trade and industry.
Hiranuma also said there is less risk of contracting the disease in coal mines than in metal mines, and that the ruling therefore distributes too much responsibility to the state.