Three war-displaced women appealed a court ruling Friday rejecting their demand for 60 million yen in damages from the state for its alleged failure to take swift action to repatriate them from China at the end of World War II.

Plaintiffs Noriko Suzuki, 77, Takeko Fujii, 73, and Rumiko Nishida, 72 filed the appeal with the Tokyo High Court.

On Feb. 22, the Tokyo District Court acknowledged that the plaintiffs had suffered severely and that the state had been negligent in fulfilling its responsibilities.

But it rejected their demand for compensation, saying the negligence was not significant enough to rule in the women's favor. "Circumstances fell just a step short of allowing the court to rule such negligence illegal as defined under the State Redress Law," the court said.

The three, all born in Japan, settled in Japanese-controlled northeastern China with their families in 1941.

They remained in China after the war ended, due to the chaos that followed an invasion by Soviet troops.