(Updated) Central Japan man, Kikuo Fujita, retroactively awarded $140k in disability pension in high court appeal

By Barrier Free Japan

September 20 2021

KANAZAWA – a few days ago Barrier Free Japan reported that:

“A man in his 70s in the central Japan prefecture of Ishikawa is set to be awarded decades of unpaid Disability Basic Pension refused to him on the grounds that the statute of limitations had passed, following an appeal court decision by the Nagoya High Court’s Kanazawa branch on Sept. 15, overturning the first ruling by the Kanazawa District Court.”

And Barrier Free Japan noted that the plaintiff’s name was not mentioned in The Mainichi’s report.

However it was mentioned in The Asahi Shimbun’s report on September 15 , and the plaintiff’s name is Kikuo Fujita, as the Asahi states:

“Kikuo Fujita (78) of Hodatsushimizu Town, Ishikawa Prefecture, who has a physical disability, said that it was illegal to refuse to apply for a disability pension because he did not have a medical certificate. The appeal decision was made at the Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court on the 15th. Judge Shunji Hasui decided that the government’s response was “illegal.” The first-instance, Kanazawa district court decision that dismissed the claim was changed, and the government was ordered to compensate the amount equivalent to the pension for about 27 years.”

The Asahi Shimbun continues:

“According to the judgment of the Court of Appeals, Mr. Fujita lost his right fingers shortly after his birth, and around November 1988, he tried to apply for a disability pension at the social insurance office with his physical disability certificate, but the person at the counter said, “The certificate is irrelevant,” and did not give him the application form.

After the decision, Mr. Fujita, who responded to the interview, repeatedly wiped his tears and said, “I’m impressed.”
A person in charge of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said in an interview, “The allegations were not accepted and the decision was harsh. We will discuss the appeal with the relevant ministries and agencies and take appropriate measures.”