April 9, 2010
Tokyo, April 9 (Jiji Press) -- Tokyo District Court on Friday ordered the government to disclose documents on a secret agreement that Tokyo would shoulder costs for the 1972 reversion of Okinawa from the United States to Japan.
The Foreign and Finance Ministries are considered to have had the documents in their possession when they decided to hide them from the public, presiding judge Norihiko Sugihara said.
The documents are evidence that indicates the existence of the secret pact between the two countries, Sugihara said, ordering the government to disclose them and pay 2.5 million yen in damages to plaintiffs.
At issue is a deal in which Japan agreed to pay more than 320 million dollars as required under an official accord on the Okinawa reversion, shoulder 4 million dollars in land restoration costs and pay 16 million dollars in costs to transfer a U.S. short-wave radio facility outside Japan.
Sugihara said such important documents should be kept permanently. If they were disposed of, there would be no choice but to conclude that the government did this on purpose, he said.
(2010/04/09-18:50)
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