In 2006, Kubota Corp., a major machinery maker, established its own relief system for sufferers of asbestos-linked diseases who were not its employees but were living near its asbestos-contaminated Kanzaki plant in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.
The firm set up the system because it was learned in June 2005 that not only employees but also local residents were suffering health damage from asbestos.
Although the system, which offers "relief money" ranging from ¥25 million to ¥46 million, is praiseworthy, Kubota does not recognize the cause-and-effect relationship between asbestos from the plant and health damage among local residents.