Records of 2,700 people who were sterilized under the Eugenic Protection Law — which was in force for decades until 1996 — have been found in local governmental archives, a development that could help victims seek state compensation.
Kyodo News confirmed the existence of the records in a nationwide survey. The number constitutes only 10 percent of the 25,000 people who had their reproductive capacity removed due to mental disabilities or diseases.
In the first such case in Japan, a woman in her 60s plans to file a lawsuit on Tuesday against the government to seek compensation because of her forced sterilization under the 1948 law.