Ending two decades of silence on the matter, the Supreme Court has taken steps to hear a dispute between Taiwanese authorities and a group of pro-Beijing Chinese over the ownership of a student dormitory in Kyoto, a case that could potentially generate diplomatic friction for Japan.
The top court's five-justice Third Petty Bench, led by Justice Tokiyasu Fujita, will hear the case, which was initially filed with a district court 40 years ago, judicial sources said Tuesday.
If the Supreme Court sets a date for sessions in what is now the oldest case pending at the top court, it would lead to the scrapping of a 1987 high court decision that ruled in Taiwan's favor, prompting pro-Beijing students to file an appeal to the Supreme Court.
In legal practice, the Supreme Court typically holds a session before scrapping a lower court ruling.
The dispute involves the ownership of the student dormitory, named Kokaryo, which Kyoto University established as an educational facility for Chinese students in a lease deal with a corporation in April 1945, four months before Japan's defeat in World War II.
The Chinese Nationalist government, which fled to Taiwan from the mainland in 1949, purchased the dormitory in 1952 from the Japanese owner.
Taiwan filed a suit with the Kyoto District Court against pro-Beijing students in 1967, seeking a court order to evict them from the dorm.
Japan severed ties with Taiwan and switched its diplomatic allegiance to the mainland in 1972 when the suit was still pending at the district court.
In the 1972 joint statement with China, Japan accepted China's stance that the government in Beijing is the sole legitimate government of China.
In 1977, the district court ruled in the pro-Beijing students' favor, declaring that ownership of the dormitory was transferred to the government in Beijing following Japan's recognition of Beijing as China's government.
The Osaka High Court later sent the case back to the district court, saying the Nationalist government continues to exist, even though its territorial control is limited.
In the retrial, both the district and high courts ruled in Taiwan's favor.