A former reporter for the Mainichi Shimbun sued the government Monday for 33 million yen, saying his career has stalled after he was "unreasonably" indicted for a report about a secret Japan-U.S. agreement on the reversion of Okinawa.
Takichi Nishiyama, who now lives in Kitakyushu, reported in 1971 that Japan had secretly shouldered $4 million in social costs for Okinawa's reversion to Japanese sovereignty. The story was based on a confidential document obtained from a female employee at the Foreign Ministry.
Nishiyama and the bureaucrat were indicted the next year for violating the National Public Service Law, and the conviction against Nishiyama was finalized in 1978.
Nishiyama said he decided to seek compensation because U.S. government documents released since 2000 have basically confirmed his report, but the Japanese government has refused to apologize to him or offer redress.