Legal experts said Wednesday's landmark decision by the Supreme Court that the Civil Code provision denying full inheritance rights to heirs born out of wedlock is unconstitutional was welcome but late in coming.
The fact that the justices reached the decision unanimously, they say, will put lawmakers under heavy pressure to revise the controversial clause as soon as possible.
"I am overjoyed that I have been able to recover my value as a person, and I am overwhelmed that we have finally moved forward," said one of the plaintiffs in Wakahama Prefecture after the ruling.