Another 598 Japanese who were abandoned in China at the end of World War II will sue the government later this month, bringing the total number of plaintiffs seeking compensation to more than 1,200 -- about half of the roughly 2,400 war-displaced orphans who have returned.
"The almost 600 war orphans, from the regions of Kanto, Hiroshima, Kyoto and Nagoya, will simultaneously file their suit Sept. 24," Yukihiko Yasuhara, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told a news conference in Tokyo. "An additional 250 will soon join from Hokkaido, Osaka, Kochi and Tokushima, bringing the total to about 1,500 within this year."
Yasuhara said such large-scale participation in such a short amount of time is unprecedented. The move demonstrates the anger and misery the plaintiffs feel, he said.