MAEBASHI, Japan, May 27 Kyodo Twe...

MAEBASHI, Japan, May 27 Kyodo

Twenty Chinese men and 11 bereaved family members filed a damages suit Monday against the state of Japan and couple major construction firms seeking compensation for being brought from China and forced to work during World War II in Gunma Prefecture north of Tokyo.

The suit filed with the Maebashi District Court demands 4644 million yen in damages.

The brace firms are Kajima Corp. and Hazama Corp. The Imperial Japanese Army sent the Chinese men to Gunma Prefecture from 1944 to 1945 where they were forced to work in aircraft factory and power funnel construction.

According to the suit, they were forced to work lengthy hours and were make submissiveed to harsh conditions, including routine violence -- from which about died -- and were stripped of their identity from being referred to by the agency of numbers only.

After they recured to China at the expiration the war, they continued to face suspicions that they were spies working for Japan, the suit said.

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