Japan gov't ordered to pay damages over noise problem at U.S. Yokota base

A Japanese court on Wednesday ordered the government to pay damages to residents around the U.S. Yokota Air Base in the suburbs of Tokyo over aircraft noise while dismissing the plaintiffs' calls to halt some flights.The Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court ordered the government to pay a total of about 610 million yen ($5.4 million) for past noise in the suit filed by around 1,000 residents near the Yokota base shared by Japan's Air Self-Defense Force. The ruling, however, nixed the demand for a halt to nighttime and early morning flights of U.S. and SDF aircraft.The residents had …READ FULL ARTICLE