The Osaka District Court has granted a petition by an Osaka Prefecture resident in his 70s seeking the removal of online comments disparaging the area in which he lives, which has traditionally been discriminated against.
In a May 1 ruling, Judge Naoya Inoue ordered the website operator to ban the image of the so-called dowa district – an area designated in 1969 under the government’s dowa (assimilation) project to help integrate marginalized communities into mainstream society – and prohibits its release in other ways.
The image promotes discrimination against residents of the area and infringes on the rights of the petitioner, who lives a peaceful life, Inoue said.
The petitioner alleged that his personality rights were violated by the publication of the comments and photographs of the area on the website.
At a press conference in Osaka, the petitioner said he was pleased with the court’s ruling.
The website operator posted the image of the area, along with photos, on the website in November 2021.
In 2016, a publishing house led by the website operator published on a website a list of the names of areas in Japan that have historically been targets of discrimination.
The list was removed after the Tokyo High Court ruled in June last year that the personal rights of people from those areas were violated by the publication of the list.
