Author: Michael Gillan Peckitt

Among the victorious plaintiffs is Kikuo Kojima, 83, of Sapporo. He was put up for adoption soon after his birth. He contracted polio, leaving him with a disabled right leg for which he was bullied. At age 19, when he was leading a desolate life, he was forced to undergo sterilization.
Kojima was handcuffed by a police officer in front of his home and put into a psychiatric hospital in Sapporo. It was one-sidedly determined that he was mentally ill, and when he was sterilized, a nurse told him that this had to be done “since it would be terrible if people like you had children.”

Speaking at a press conference held in Tokyo after the meeting, Koji Niisato said, in a trembling voice, “We’ve made it this far at last. It’s taken so long. But now that we’ve gotten an apology from the prime minister, I think we have reached one of our goals.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday apologized directly to victims of forced sterilizations conducted under the now-defunct eugenic protection law.

At a meeting with the victims held at the Prime Minister’s Office Kishida said: “The government’s responsibility is extremely serious, I am sincerely sorry.”

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.