The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by the author and publisher of a book on the Nanjing Massacre, finalizing lower court rulings that ordered them to pay a combined ¥4 million in damages to a Chinese woman the book claimed was an impostor.
The top court's No. 1 petty bench made the decision in the libel suit brought by Xia Shuqin, 79, against Asia University professor Shudo Higashinakano and publisher Tendensha. The court said the book discredited her by giving readers the impression she was not a witness to the 1937 atrocity, which the book claimed never happened.
Xia was demanding a combined ¥15 million in compensation from Higashinakano and Tendensha, but the Tokyo District Court ordered them in November 2007 to pay ¥4 million.
The Tokyo High Court backed the decision last May.