Kirk here with what I view as good news for human rights in Japan. This local ruling made national news today. And, there’s actually a fairly direct connection too this forum. I’ll connect the dots: (1) This forum grew out of a movement to help embattled non-Japanese teachers and the Prefectural University of Kumamoto (Kumamoto International started as a mailing list to help get word out to people in the community about what we were doing); (2) When that labor dispute became a lawsuit, HIGASHI Toshihiro was one of our lawyers; (3) The lead lawyer for the plaintiff in this forced sterilization case is also Mr. Higashi, who now teaches at Kumamoto Gakuen University. If you watch the NHK video you’ll see Mr. Higashi sitting next to the plaintiff, also in a wheelchair.