Photo/Illutration A P1 patrol aircraft leaves the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Atsugi base in Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, for the Kanoya base in Kagoshima Prefecture on July 26, 2020. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Locals call it “bakuon” (explosive noise). It surely wasn’t too much to ask that the judiciary would help mitigate, even if by just a little, the ear-splitting noise the residents have had to put up with in the postwar period?

In the fifth lawsuit over aircraft noise levels at the Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture, the Yokohama District Court rejected the plaintiffs’ demand for an injunction to stop U.S. and Self-Defense Forces aircraft from flying at night and early in the morning.

The court did, however, acknowledge the state’s liability for compensation.

Lawsuits concerning noise pollution at military bases have been filed in various parts of Japan. Although courts have ordered the state to pay compensation, the residents’ greatest wish, an injunction against nighttime and early morning flights, has not been granted.

The fourth Atsugi base lawsuit almost opened the door to this possibility. Ten years ago, the Yokohama District Court acknowledged the health problems the plaintiffs faced, such as sleep deprivation, and granted an injunction against SDF flights from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

It was the first court ruling to acknowledge an injunction against base flights in the form of an administrative lawsuit. Furthermore, it was upheld by the Tokyo High Court in a ruling on appeal.

But in 2016, the Supreme Court overturned this landmark decision, acknowledging the broad discretion of the defense minister concerning the issue. The court presented a legal framework that focused on thoughtful consideration of the public interest and common good of aircraft operations, levels of noise damage and measures to mitigate it.

Researchers and other critics have argued that this approach to court decisions on the issue promotes an abstract and unverifiable process, which thereby turns judicial scrutiny into a “black box.”

It is difficult to claim that the judiciary is performing its role as a “bastion of human rights” when it orders the state to pay compensation for noise pollution and acknowledges the seriousness of the damage to those affected by it, yet seemingly stands on the sidelines without showing any willingness to play an active role in solving the issue, thereby leaving the problem unresolved.

The latest district court ruling followed the Supreme Court’s decision.

However, there is a point to note. The U.S. Carrier Air Wing Five, which was the principal source of the noise pollution around the Atsugi base, completed its relocation to the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2018.

Pointing to this fact, the government claimed that “the noise has been significantly reduced,” but the district court ruling, while narrowing the recognized affected area, raised the level of compensation.

The court maintained that “the importance of personal interests related to a quiet living environment is increasing,” a recognition that should extend to other base noise lawsuits.

Claims for injunctions to halt aircraft flights were generally rejected at the outset on grounds they cannot be decided in civil lawsuits because the issue is beyond the purview of civil litigation. But it also remains unclear if they can be addressed in administrative lawsuits. This judicial stance symbolizes the difficulties of using the court system to tackle the problem.

Following judicial system reforms at the start of the century, it was explicitly stated in law that administrative lawsuits should handle injunctions, but the effectiveness of this provision for plaintiffs is still unclear.

When it comes to noise from U.S. military aircraft, courts have dismissed lawsuits seeking injunctions, arguing that they are “third parties” beyond the control of the Japanese government.

That being the case, the government has a duty to take responsibility to tackle this problem and engage actively in continuous consultations with the U.S. government on this matter that seriously endangers people’s health.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 25