The Tokyo High Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by six Chinese women and the families of four deceased women who were seeking damages from the government for being repeatedly raped by Japanese soldiers in China before and during World War II.

As in the lower court ruling, the high court acknowledged that the women, who were in their teens and 20s at the time, were raped by many Japanese soldiers. It expressed hope that the government would act to resolve the issue, saying the state is "fully capable of reaching a legislative or administrative settlement."

Presiding Judge Toshimi Ouchi said that under the Constitution at the time, the government was not responsible for compensating for state actions.

A lawyer representing the plaintiffs said they would immediately appeal the ruling.

He said: "It is extremely regrettable that the ruling went against the trend in which courts have rejected the argument that the government cannot be held responsible. The state should make utmost effort to compensate" the victims.

The 10 women from Shanxi Province in northeastern China were raped between 1940 and 1944 by Japanese soldiers in their homes and at the bases of the Imperial Japanese Army, where they were taken by force. The women suffered severe physical and mental trauma, including injuries that prevented them from being able to give birth and posttraumatic stress disorder, the ruling said.