Plaintiff denied compensation for decadeslong stay at hospital

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a man seeking compensation for his forced hospitalization at a psychiatric ward, claiming that his decadeslong stay was due to the government’s failure to revise its mental health care laws.

Plaintiff Tokio Ito, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, claimed that he suffered emotional damage from being forced to endure an involuntary hospital stay for what he said was close to 40 years.

In 2020, he filed a lawsuit against the government, arguing that parliament members and health ministers had failed to revise laws and policies related to mental health care and seeking ¥33 million in damages.