Chinese laborers who were forced to work in Japan during World War II continued their fight for compensation from a Japanese construction company in Japan's Supreme Court on Thursday.

Song Jiyao, 79, said at the hearing that he would never forget the torture he suffered while he was forced to labor in Japan and lost his sight during an accident. He hoped to win the lawsuit and bring justice for all wartime laborers.

"The Hiroshima high court has made a just ruling in 2004 which recognized the history of forced Chinese laborers," 81-year-old Shao Yicheng said at the hearing, "I believe the top court would not ignore the historic facts and make wrong judgment."

In 1944, some 360 Chinese were forced by Nishimatsu Construction to go and labor under severe conditions at a work site in Hiroshima prefecture. Among them, 29 laborers died either due to torture or on the ship back to China after Japan was defeated in 1945.

Song, Shao and 3 families of the deceased laborers filed the suit for damages against Nishimatsu in 1998, demanding apology and damages of 5.5 million yen (46,760 U.S. dollars) for each plaintiff.

In July 2004, the High Court of the Hiroshima prefecture awarded damages in full to the five plaintiffs, marking the first time a Japanese high court has ordered the defendant in a series of lawsuits involving forced laborers to pay damages to the plaintiffs.

However, Nishimatsu Construction did not accept the ruling and appealed to the Supreme Court.

During Friday's hearing, legal agents for Nishimatsu Construction argued that China has abandoned individuals' rights to demand reparations.

Syuichi Adachi, a Japanese lawyer fighting for the rights of former Chinese laborers, said that the company's argument was based on an agreement signed between Japan and the then Taiwan authority in 1952, which is not legally valid.

The Supreme Court said it will make a final ruling on the case on April 27.

Source: Xinhua