Gov't ordered to pay Y77 mil to family of asbestos victim at U.S. base

YOKOSUKA —

The Yokohama District Court ordered the Japanese government Monday to pay about 77 million yen to the family of a deceased man who had suffered mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos while working at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Judge Haruhiko Sakae at the Yokosuka branch of the district court ruled the Japanese government and the U.S. forces neglected their safety obligation to employees by not taking necessary safety measures, such as having them wear protective masks.

The judge also said the government was aware of instances of asbestos-related health hazards before the man, Hitoshi Taima, began working at the base in 1977. According to the ruling, Taima had been exposed to asbestos in insulation filling while fixing and setting up air conditioners as an engineer at the base between 1977 and 1995. Taima was diagnosed as suffering from mesothelioma in April 2006 and died in May 2007 at the age of 51, after filing the lawsuit against the state based on the U.S. Navy decision that recognized Taima's case as illness and injury suffered in the course of doing one's job duties in March 2007, according to his family.