Japan’s Parliament to Apologize for Forced Sterilization

From Jiji

July 16 2024

TOKYO – Japan’s parliament is likely to apologize to the victims of forced sterilization during its extraordinary session expected to be held this autumn, it was learned Tuesday. 

At hearings conducted by steering committees of both parliamentary chambers, ruling and opposition lawmakers called on the legislative branch to make an apology on its own for the inhumane acts carried out under the now-defunct eugenics law after the Supreme Court found the law unconstitutional.

“It is extremely regrettable that the law was enacted by a unanimous vote,” Shunichi Yamaguchi, a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and chairman of the House of Representatives Rules and Administration Committee, told reporters after the Lower House committee’s meeting.

At a press conference the same day, Akira Koike, head of the Japanese Communist Party’s secretariat, urged the government to take legal relief measures for sterilization victims by convening the extra parliamentary session as soon as possible.