The Osaka District Court on Thursday shot down a lawsuit calling for Yasukuni Shrine to remove from its enshrinement rolls 11 servicemen and civilian employees of the Imperial Japanese forces.
It is the first judicial determination at the district court level on collective enshrinement of war dead.
The suit against the Shinto shrine in Tokyo and the central government also sought ¥1 million in damages for each of the nine plaintiffs, whose relatives are honored at Yasukuni.