The Nagoya High Court on Friday rejected an appeal by a local ward office trying to prevent a member of Aum Shinrikyo from applying for official residency.
A lower court had ruled the ward office must accept the residency application.
It is the first high court ruling on a case involving a residency application by a member of Aum. Some local administrations have refused to allow members of the cult, blamed for the Tokyo subway nerve gas attack and other heinous crimes, to register as residents.
According to the court, a 31-year-old female cultist submitted a residency application form to the Naka Ward office after she moved there from nearby Nishi Ward on Aug. 1.