“The noise damage suffered by the plaintiffs is serious and widespread,” Presiding Judge Satoshi Hikage said in the ruling, adding that the court had found the damage reached an unacceptable level.

The ruling comes as Japan and the United States are seeking to move the Futenma base to a less densely populated area on the same Okinawa island and return the land used for the base to Japanese control. The Okinawa governor opposes relocating the base within the island prefecture.

“I’m relieved that the damages are rewarded,” said Sogi Ganaha, one of the plaintiffs who lives some 300 metres from the base, after the ruling. “Whenever I hear the roaring of a helicopter circling above my head, I remember the war 70 years ago. I’ve wanted to get compensated for my daily sufferings.”

In a statement, the governor, Takeshi Onaga, hailed the ruling as “meaningful.”

Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference that the government failed to have the court fully understand its arguments. “We will adequately deal with this after coordination among the ministries and agencies concerned.”

The suit follows a similar one filed by local residents in October 2002. In the previous case, the Fukuoka High Court ordered the government in July 2010 to pay about 369 million yen in damages to the plaintiffs, but rejected their plea for the suspension of early morning and evening flights.

The latest suit was filed in 2012 by those who did not become plaintiffs in the previous case.

During the trial, the government sought an exemption and reduction in compensation, arguing that some of the plaintiffs had moved into the area knowing that an air base exists there, and that the government had taken measures to reduce noise, such as funding noise abatement work on residences.