TOKYO - A Japanese appeals court on Friday threw out a lawsuit by a group of Chinese who sought compensation from Japan's government and 10 companies for allegedly using them as slave laborers during World War II.

Tokyo High Court Judge Nobuo Akatsuka dismissed the claims and ordered the defense to pay all court fees, a court official said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol. She said she could not elaborate on the ruling.

"Today's ruling was extremely unjust. I am firmly opposed," one of the plaintiffs, Lou Qinghai, told reporters outside the courthouse.

Lou, 78, says he was forcibly brought to Japan in 1944 to work at a quarry in the country's northwest.

"I will continue to sue until we get justice," Lou said.
 
Liu Huanxin, son of the deceased former labor Liu Lianren said the ruling was "hypocritical", and urged the Japanese government to "have a correct attitude towards history and apologize to the former labors with real action."

The lawsuit was filed in 1997 on behalf of 42 Chinese, only about half of whom are still alive. A lower court had thrown out their suit in 2003, saying the government and companies were not responsible for individual damages.

The 2003 ruling acknowledged, however, that Japan had systematically used forced laborers in wartime.

The Chinese say they were captured by the Japanese military in 1944-45 and sent to work under dangerous conditions, mostly in Japan's construction and mining industries. They had sued for a total of 847.5 million yen (US$7.25 million; euro5.75 million) in damages.

All but one of the 10 companies being sued are publicly listed. The companies are Hazama Corp., Furukawa Co., Tekken Corp., Nishimatsu Construction, Ube Industries, Dowa Mining, Nittetsu Mining, Mitsubishi Materials Corp., Tobishima and Japan Energy Corp.

The case is one of several in Japanese and U.S. courts seeking redress for alleged wartime brutalities.

Japan's military shipped up to 800,000 people from China, Korea and other Asian countries to Japan to work in coal mines and ports in the early 1900s.

Hundreds of thousands of others were forced into military service or sexual slavery for Japanese troops.

But Tokyo has generally refused to pay damages to individuals, saying the issue was settled on a government-to-government basis in postwar treaties. The stance has drawn accusations at home and abroad that Japan remains unrepentant for its wartime wrongs.
In April, the same Tokyo appeals court dismissed a compensation claim filed by relatives of seven South Koreans forced to work at a steel mill in northern Japan during World War II.

Another court in March rejected demands for compensation by 45 Chinese men forced to work as slaves at Japanese coal mines in the 1940s, saying the current government is not responsible for the country's wartime actions.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the plaintiffs would appeal Friday's ruling.