In a second wave of collective lawsuits, 612 Japanese who were separated from their parents in China at the end of World War II and lived for decades in Chinese foster homes sued the government Wednesday.

The plaintiffs claim the government failed to adopt an early program to bring them to Japan and failed to help those who later settled here.

The lawsuits, filed with the districts courts in Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Hiroshima, are demanding a combined 20 billion yen in compensation, or some 33 million yen for each plaintiff.