Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (Mainichi)

       TOKYO -- The Japanese government will not appeal a Hiroshima High Court ruling that recognized the health damage people suffered from "black rain" that fell following the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters on July 26.

       Suga disclosed the government's decision following a meeting with health minister Norihisa Tamura and Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa at the prime minister's office.

       The Hiroshima High Court had earlier ruled in favor of 84 plaintiffs who sought official recognition as hibakusha, or A-bomb survivors, after being exposed to the radioactive rain that fell over a wide area of the city following the bombing. The court recognized all 84 of the plaintiffs as hibakusha, supporting a Hiroshima District Court ruling that ordered hibakusha health handbooks to be issued to them.

       (Japanese original by Shun Kawaguchi, Political News Department)

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