With one plaintiff coughing up phlegm as she testified, the first hearing of an appeal of a long-running air pollution suit got under way Thursday at the Tokyo High Court.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the only defendant that did not appeal the lower court ruling, told the court that the national government should take responsibility for the plaintiffs' plight.
The lawsuit, featuring 99 plaintiffs, was initially filed in 1996, targeting the national government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Metropolitan Expressway Public Corp. and seven diesel vehicle manufacturers.