This is a message from the appellant (plaintiff).

On April 15, 2026, the Tokyo High Court handed down its judgment in the appeal trial.

1. Date of judgment pronouncement

Date and Time: Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 1:20 PM

Location: Courtroom 824, Tokyo High Court

Judges: Presiding Judge Tetsuro Nakayoshi, Judge Tetsuya Uchida, and Judge Tadashi Kudo are unable to sign and seal this document due to the need for replacements.

●Click here for the full text of the judgment https://www.call4.jp/file/pdf/202604/320090a64590cfd2182e6f7fb10f9245.pdf

2. Summary and Issues of This Judgment

In this appeal, the court partially modified the original judgment in a case concerning the legality of treatment in a correctional facility, ordering the appellee, the State, to pay 250,000 yen in damages.

Specifically, the court recognized the illegality of some of the measures taken against the appellant and stated that "it is not difficult to imagine the fear and humiliation the appellant felt when subjected to these measures," and increased the amount of compensation awarded by the first instance court from 30,000 yen to 100,000 yen. This can be considered a certain step forward in the factual findings.

However, this judgment denied any illegality in the series of measures other than the one in question, finding them all to be lawful or within acceptable limits. Furthermore, it determined that there were no unconstitutional or illegal aspects to the procedural issues in the lower court.

I believe this is a major problem with this judgment.

First, the legality of treatment in correctional facilities is judged in a way that excessively respects the discretion and internal discipline of the facility, severely limiting the evaluation of the physical and mental suffering of inmates. In particular, in cases like this one, where treatment is carried out continuously and repeatedly, the method of evaluating it individually and fragmentarily, rather than directly addressing the overall infringement, makes it difficult to make an illegality judgment that is in line with the reality.

Next, we cannot overlook the fact that, despite the existence of circumstances requiring medical consideration, there has been insufficient judicial control over how such considerations are given. Ideally, in situations where specific physical risks are identified, a stricter duty of care should be required, but this judgment appears to have effectively lowered that standard.

Furthermore, a more fundamental issue is that this judgment completely fails to rectify the procedural problems in the lower court. In this case, despite serious doubts regarding the right to a fair trial concerning the examination of evidence and the parties' opportunities to present their arguments and evidence, this judgment denied unconstitutionality and illegality without directly considering these issues.

This leaves unaddressed a structural problem in which it is difficult for inmates to conduct a substantial legal effort, and it demonstrates that the constitutionally guaranteed "right to a fair trial" remains merely a formality.

As described above, while this judgment contains some commendable aspects, significant challenges remain regarding the framework for determining the illegality of treatment in correctional facilities and the nature of procedural guarantees for inmates.

3. Regarding the appeal

As stated above, this judgment is undeniably extremely unjust. Therefore, we are currently considering filing an appeal and a petition for acceptance of the appeal.

The first oral argument hearing was held on Wednesday, January 21st at 2:30 pm in Tokyo High Court Courtroom 824. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has continued to support us.

Prior to this hearing, the plaintiff submitted a supplementary statement of grounds for appeal and made a statement of its opinion.

*The Supplementary Statement of Grounds for Appeal can be viewed here ( Supplementary Statement of Grounds for Appeal (1) ).

The case was concluded at this hearing.

At the next hearing, a verdict will be handed down.

Next session: Wednesday , April 15th, 1:20pm
Tokyo High Court, Courtroom 824

Thanks to your generous support, we have successfully reached our initial fundraising goal. I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart. Receiving so many donations and messages of encouragement in such a short period has been deeply inspiring.

This lawsuit is not just about my individual situation. It is a fight to build a society where anyone can raise their voice when they face unjust treatment.

As we move into the appellate stage, we will need substantial resources for evidence collection, media responses, public outreach, transportation, and more.

For this reason, we have set a new second goal of 1.5 million yen. We are determined to pursue the case with even greater care and integrity, and to uncover the truth through thorough and sincere advocacy.

I humbly ask for your continued support. Thank you again for standing with us.

In addition, the first oral hearing in the appeal will be held on Tuesday, January 21, 2026, at 2:30 PM in Courtroom 824 of the Tokyo High Court.

We would be grateful if you could attend the hearing and experience the atmosphere of the courtroom firsthand.