The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday overturned a lower court decision and denied a university professor compensation for the government's screening of textbooks, which he said violated his constitutional freedom of expression.
Presiding Judge Motoaki Kitayama overturned the 1998 Yokohama District Court ruling that found two of four changes to a high school textbook demanded by education ministry officials were illegal and ordered the government to pay 200,000 yen in compensation.
Kitayama said the ministry's screening system does not violate the Constitution and that the passages written by the professor were "not appropriate for high school students." He also said the government's demands for the four changes were "adequate and legal."