Three people in their 70s sued the state for damages on Thursday, claiming they were sterilized against their will under the now-defunct eugenics protection law.
Kikuo Kojima, 76, in Sapporo, and a woman in Miyagi Prefecture and man in Tokyo who have declined to be named, filed the lawsuits at their respective district courts seeking a total of ¥79.5 million ($721,000) in damages, saying that they have been robbed of the right to decide whether to have a child.
The lawsuits come on the heels of the nation's first such filing, made by a woman in her 60s in Miyagi in January. More suits are expected to follow, with a lawyers' group set to form later this month to assist victims nationwide.