In response to the publication of blatant falsehoods about him, Nobuyuki Shirayama filed a libel suit against Shinchosha, the publisher of Shukan Shincho.

On December 20, 1996, Sapporo District Court ordered the publisher to pay Mr. Shirayama 1.1 million yen in damages.

On September 25, 1997, Shinchosha appealed to the Sapporo High Court, but the appeal was denied. The chief judge stated in the judgment that “the article implies the possibility that the accident was intentionally caused by Soka Gakkai related people,” and “The suspicion that the story was from the start intended as an attack on the Soka Gakkai cannot be removed. Moreover, it unfairly damaged the plaintiff’s reputation.”

On March 26, 1998, the Supreme Court, chaired by Chief Justice Mitsuo Saito, dismissed a final appeal by Shinchosha.