TOKYO (RNS/ENI) A Christian man has won a lawsuit in Japan’s highest court against a local mayor who had allowed the free use of local government land for a Shinto shrine.

“I am convinced that we have won regarding the unconstitutionality,” one of the two plaintiffs, Sakae Taniuchi, a senior member of the Church of Christ in Japan, told Ecumenical News International.

“But,” he added, “I feel very angry about the fact that the court said that the unconstitutionality could have been avoided through certain means (by transferring the land to the town for free). The court should not say such a thing.”

In its Jan. 20 decision, the Supreme Court said the no-cost land grant to the Sorachibuto Shinto Shrine by the city of Sunagawa, on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, “clearly violates clauses on the separation of religion and politics” under the country’s constitution.

The court cited article 89 of Japan’s constitution, which says, “No public money or other property shall be expended or appropriated for the use, benefit or maintenance of any religious institution or association, or for any charitable, educational or benevolent enterprises not under the control of public authority.”

The court also cited a part of the constitution that says, “No religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, nor exercise any political authority.”

Taniuchi and the other plaintiff, Masayoshi Takahashi, had also charged that Mayor Katsutoshi Kikuya of Sunagawa had improperly provided free land to another Shinto shrine. The court ruled that shrine could stay.