TOKYO -- A Japanese court on Wednesday rejected demands by a group of Chinese women and their relatives that the government offer an apology and compensation for Japan's wartime military forcing them into sex slavery, their supporters and court officials said.

The women, now in their 70s and 80s, demanded the government pay them 23 million yen (US$197,400; euro154,000) each in compensation for sexual abuse on southeastern China's Hainan Island.

Plaintiff Chen Yapian (C) is guided by a supporter as she walks away from Tokyo District Court after the court rejected demands for compensation and an apology filed by Chinese women forced to act as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War Two, August 30, 2006. [Reuters]

The plaintiffs also want Japan's government to offer a public apology.

The lawsuit was filed in 2001. Two of the eight original plaintiffs have since died.

The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday rejected their demands, saying the current Japanese government is not responsible for military actions under the wartime constitution, according to supporters of the plaintiffs.

"I came here all the way from China only to hear this ruling that ended in a second," said plaintiff Chen Yi-pian, 79. "The ruling was so unfair, and I feel enraged."

Chen, then age 14, was caught by a Japanese soldier in 1941 and confined at a Japanese military base on Hainan, where she was repeatedly raped for two years, according to a statement by the support group Hainan Net.

She still suffers recurring flashbacks of the trauma, the group said.

"I will continue my legal battle until I find justice," Chen said.

Lawyer Hitomi Sugiura said she and her clients plan to appeal the ruling.

Kyodo News agency said Wednesday's ruling was the last of nearly a dozen compensation lawsuits, filed at Japanese district courts against the government by alleged former sex slaves from around Asia.

Tokyo has generally refused to pay damages to individuals for its soldiers' wartime actions, saying such issues were settled between governments in postwar treaties.

Japanese courts have rejected a number of lawsuits brought by people saying they are former sex slaves.