Former fishermen sue Japanese government for damages over U.S. H-bomb tests

A group of former Japanese fishermen filed a lawsuit Monday against the government for hiding information for decades about their exposure to radiation caused by U.S. hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific in 1954.

The plaintiffs, including former fishermen and families of deceased fishermen who worked on the ships sailing in the vicinity when the bomb tests happened, filed the lawsuit with the Kochi District Court and demanded 2 million yen (18,600 U.S. dollars) each for compensation.

The United States conducted a series of hydrogen bomb tests at at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958. Japanese tuna fishing boat Fukuryu Maru No. 5 was in the fallout zone of one of the nuclear tests, and one of its 23-man crew died about six months later.

Records released by Japan's Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in 2014 showed that 10 ships other than Fukuryu Maru No. 5 also received radiation from the tests, though the ministry denied the existence of such records earlier.

The plaintiffs, a total of 45, argued that the Japanese government deliberately hide information about the fishermen's exposure to radiation caused by the U.S. hydrogen bomb tests and deprived them of the chance to seek compensation from the U.S. government.

It is the first time such a lawsuit has been filed against the government in Japan in connection with the hydrogen bomb tests. Endit