Editing Bombing of Tokyo (section)

==Postwar Japanese politics==
In 2007, 112 members of the Association for the Bereaved Families of the Victims of the Tokyo Air Raids brought a class action against the Japanese government, demanding an apology and 1.232 billion yen in compensation. Their suit charged that the Japanese government invited the raid by failing to end the war earlier, and then failed to help the civilian victims of the raids while providing considerable support to former military personnel and their families.<ref>{{Cite news | url = http://www.47news.jp/CN/200703/CN2007030901000392.html | title = 東京大空襲、国を提訴 遺族ら12億円賠償請求 | agency = [[Kyodo News]] | publisher = [[47NEWS]] | date = 9 March 2007 | access-date = 22 November 2013 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131202231625/http://www.47news.jp/CN/200703/CN2007030901000392.html | archive-date = 2 December 2013 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> The plaintiffs' case was dismissed at the first judgement in December 2009, and their appeal was rejected.<ref>{{Cite news | url = http://www.47news.jp/CN/200912/CN2009121401000348.html | title = 東京大空襲の賠償認めず 「救済対象者の選別困難」 | agency = [[Kyodo News]] | publisher = [[47NEWS]] | date = 14 December 2009 | access-date = 22 November 2013 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230718/http://www.47news.jp/CN/200912/CN2009121401000348.html | archive-date = 2 December 2013 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> The plaintiffs then appealed to the [[Supreme Court of Japan|Supreme Court]], which rejected their case in May 2013.<ref>{{Cite news | url = http://www.47news.jp/CN/201305/CN2013050901001267.html | title = 東京大空襲で原告敗訴が確定 最高裁が上告退ける | agency = [[Kyodo News]] | publisher = [[47NEWS]] | date = 9 May 2013 | access-date = 22 November 2013 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130611164421/http://www.47news.jp/CN/201305/CN2013050901001267.html | archive-date = 11 June 2013 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

In 2013, during Japanese Prime Minister [[Shinzō Abe]]'s second term, Abe's cabinet stated that the raids were "incompatible with [[humanitarianism]], which is one of the foundations of international law", but also noted that it is difficult to argue whether the raids were illegal under the international laws of the time.<ref name="JDPnews20130507">{{Cite news | url = http://japandailypress.com/japanese-government-says-1945-tokyo-bombing-was-against-humanitarian-principles-0728382/ | title = Japanese government says 1945 Tokyo bombing was 'against humanitarian principles' | agency = [[Mainichi Shimbun]] | publisher = Japan Daily News | date = 7 May 2013 | access-date = 22 November 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150809154007/http://japandailypress.com/japanese-government-says-1945-tokyo-bombing-was-against-humanitarian-principles-0728382/ | archive-date = 9 August 2015 | url-status = usurped }}</ref><ref name="47news20130507">{{Cite news | url = http://www.47news.jp/CN/201305/CN2013050701001318.html | title = 東京大空襲で答弁書 「人道主義に合致せず」 | agency = 共同通信社 | publisher = [[47NEWS]] | date = 7 May 2013 | access-date = 22 November 2013 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131202221330/http://www.47news.jp/CN/201305/CN2013050701001318.html | archive-date = 2 December 2013 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>