Toru Takegama's spirits were high when he left Japan in July 1956 for the Dominican Republic under a government-backed emigration project.

Takegama dreamed of becoming a successful farmer in the Caribbean country. But his hopes were shattered when he saw that the land his family was given was a dried-up wasteland with no water supply.

"How are we supposed to harvest anything here?" Takegama, 65, recalled asking when he saw his land allotment for the first time. He emigrated to the Dominican Republic with his parents and four siblings.

The government had promised the family 18 hectares of free, fertile farmland. Takegama said the family only received a third of the promised area.

Diplomatic documents show that the Dominican government promised "a maximum" of 18 hectares of land during negotiations with the Japanese government. The leaflets distributed by the government-affiliated program promised 18 hectares.

Takegama, a native of Kagoshima Prefecture, is in Japan to attend a court session in a suit he and 125 other plaintiffs filed against the government in July 2000. They are demanding compensation for the hardships they endured due to false information they received before emigrating. The total number of plaintiffs has grown to 174.

Takegama is the leader of a group of some 20 plaintiffs who attended a Monday session at the Tokyo District Court. A ruling is expected by the end of the year.

A total of 249 households, or 1,319 people, moved to the Dominican Republic between 1956 and 1959 under the emigration program, believing a government promise of a "Caribbean Paradise."

Takegama said other emigrants were given salt-damaged or rock-strewn land.

But the government claimed it provided the "most accurate information it had gathered at the time," and rejected the plaintiffs' claim for 18 hectares as originally promised.

The Dominican Republic emigration program was one of several arranged with Latin American countries after World War II to cope with Japan's soaring population.

Japan effectively admitted in 1961 the Dominican emigration plan was a failure and helped most of the emigrants return to Japan or move elsewhere in Latin America.

Takegama was among some 500 Japanese who decided to stay.

"We had disposed of our property in Japan when we left," he said. "We couldn't just go back to Japan."