JAPAN's Supreme Court has ruled in favour of around 500 plaintiffs in four suits seeking damages from the government over diseases contracted by construction workers from exposure to asbestos.
In the judgment, the court said the government was negligent in its duty to protect workers from contracting lung cancer and other diseases linked to asbestos.
It said manufacturers of construction materials containing asbestos were also responsible to some extent.
The court made the ruling Monday on the four lawsuits filed in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Kyoto.
Quoting a ruling party source, the Kyodo News said Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will meet with the plaintiffs and plans to offer them an apology.
In supporting the victims, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito have proposed that the government pay compensation of up to 13 million yen (US$119,000) to each victim exposed to asbestos.
Toshitaka Onodera, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told reporters they will accept the compensation proposal.
In the ruling, Presiding Judge Takuya Miyama said the state should have warned of the dangers of asbestos by October 1975 through labels on construction materials or at construction sites.
They should also have instructed workers to wear dust-protective masks.
"It significantly lacks rationality" that the state did not exercise its authority to regulate the use of asbestos, Miyama said.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous mineral and was widely used for insulation, fire protection and sound absorption, in buildings.
Since 2008, a number of damages suits, have been filed nationwide related to asbestos exposure at construction sites.
According to the lawyers involved, there are a total of 1,200 plaintiffs as of April this year, including bereaved family members of workers exposed to asbestos.
Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Yoshihisa Tamura also responded to the court ruling and offered deep apologies over the issue.
The four suits were examined by the apex court after High Court rulings differed in assigning responsibility to the state and manufacturers.
The court had previously ordered the state and manufacturers to pay compensation to the victims but had not provided detailed reasoning for awarding damages.
The plaintiffs argued that state regulations for asbestos, which did not require workers to wear protective masks, were insufficient and manufacturers also failed to properly indicate the dangers of the material.
The state, meanwhile, argued it only had a responsibility to protect company employees as self-employed workers are responsible for their own health and safety.
Manufacturers denied responsibility on the grounds that it was impossible to confirm which materials were responsible for the diseases contracted.
The use of the substance was gradually regulated as it was found that inhaling asbestos fibers could cause lung cancer and other diseases.
Due to the decades-long latency period, asbestos was also referred to as a "silent time bomb."
A law to provide financial support to people suffering from asbestos-linked diseases took effect in Japan in 2006.