Japanese lawmakers were reportedly preparing to submit a bill in early July to provide aid to surviving civilian victims of the Pacific War, part of World War II, reviving debate over Japan's unresolved postwar reparations issues.

The proposed legislation aims to support people who suffered serious harm from wartime air raids and other damage caused during the war. According to Japan Today, it would mark the first time in 38 years that such a bill has been submitted to the Japanese parliament.

The move was prompted by the aging of many surviving victims and came at a time when little progress had been made on related procedures within the ruling coalition, Japan Today reported.

Beyond compensation for its own civilian victims, Japan's wartime reparations to other Asian countries also remain a subject of dispute. Although Japan reached settlements with four Southeast Asian countries, these were largely carried out through the framework of "economic cooperation," effectively providing economic assistance rather than direct compensation.

In December 2025, South Korea's Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling ordering Nippon Steel Corp. of Japan to pay 100 million won (around $67,900) in compensation to the family of Jeong Hyeong-pal, a wartime forced labor victim. According to Yonhap News, Jeong was taken to Japan and forced to work at a steel mill in Iwate Prefecture from 1940 to 1942.

The ruling marked the first decision by South Korea's top court on such cases since its landmark 2018 ruling that Japanese companies could be held liable for damages related to wartime forced labor.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi lodged a protest at a press conference on the same day, describing the ruling as "deeply regrettable" and "absolutely unacceptable."

The issue of individual claims has also remained contentious in China. The 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement stated that the Chinese government renounced its demand for war reparations from Japan. However, experts have argued that the statement did not constitute a waiver of Chinese citizens' individual rights to seek compensation.

Jin Ming, an international law expert at the Law School of Sichuan University, said: "From a textual perspective, what the Chinese government waived was solely the state's or the government's right to seek reparations. It neither addressed nor waived the individual claims of Chinese citizens."

He added that textual interpretation is the ordinary and primary method of treaty interpretation under international law.

In Beijing, the China Federation of Civil Claims Against Japan, a civilian organization, has spent more than three decades documenting the experiences of Chinese war survivors and seeking accountability from Japan.

Over the years, Chinese victims filed more than 20 lawsuits in Japanese courts with support from the federation and Japanese lawyers, including Keiichiro Ichinose. However, all major cases were rejected, with Japanese courts often citing legal principles such as "state immunity" or the alleged "waiver of individual claims."

Chen Chunlong, president of the federation, said that the Chinese government's renunciation of state-to-state reparations did not mean that Chinese civilian victims had given up their right to seek compensation from Japan.

"That is why, for all these decades, we have continued to uphold this right," Chen said in an interview with CGTN.

Ichinose noted that Japan stated in the 1972 joint statement that it had deeply reflected on the enormous damage inflicted on China during the war. However, he argued that Japan has failed to fully follow through on that commitment, including confronting its wartime aggression, addressing the issue in textbooks, and providing apologies and compensation to victims.

Zhang Lianhong, a professor at Nanjing Normal University, said that a correct understanding of history is a prerequisite for Japan to resolve the unresolved issues stemming from World War II.

"If Japanese society, particularly right-wing forces, continues to deny Japan's wartime aggression and refuses to accept responsibility for the war, issues such as war reparations, the 'comfort women' issue, and abandoned chemical weapons will remain unresolved," Zhang said.

The Japanese government should engage in profound reflection on its wartime aggression and take the initiative to address its responsibilities regarding unresolved wartime issues, Zhang added.