Mother Ordered to Pay ¥30M in Abuse Damages Causing Mental Disorders

From Kyodo via Yahoo! Japan

February 16 2026

YOKOHAMA – A lawsuit in which a 36-year-old man from Kanagawa Prefecture sought damages from his mother, claiming that abuse he suffered as a child caused him to develop mental disorders that left him unable to work, resulted in the Yokohama District Court recognizing the causal link between the abuse and his inability to maintain employment and ordering the mother to pay approximately ¥35.45 million in compensation, it was learned on the 16th. The ruling was dated Jan. 27.

According to the judgment and related materials, the man was subjected from early childhood to abuse that included burns and compression fractures, and he was placed in a child welfare institution. Although he was at one point taken back into his home, the abuse resumed and he returned to institutional care. He received psychiatric treatment until graduating from junior high school, after which his symptoms temporarily stabilized. However, in adulthood he was diagnosed with insomnia and other mental disorders, quit his job in 2021, and in 2023 was medically assessed as “having difficulty working.”