A man who instigated violence against another man and then tried to claim self defense after the victim fought back broke the law, the top court has ruled.

The Supreme Court ruled that such actions cannot be recognized as legally justifiable self-defense unless the retaliatory attack by the victim is far more violent than the defendant's initial attack.

Moreover, the top court pointed out that the defendant's illegal act triggered the victim's violent attack. "The victim's attack was sparked by the defendant's violent behavior. The defendant's second attack does not constitute self-defense regardless."

It thus dismissed an appeal by the defendant, a 44-year-old man, against a lower court ruling that sentenced him to six months in prison, suspended for three years, for inflicting bodily injury.

The defendant got into an argument with another man in his 50s on a street in Fuchu, western Tokyo, in November 2005, and punched the older man with his fist, according to the Tokyo High Court ruling.

However, the victim fought back, hitting the defendant's neck, after chasing him on a bicycle. The defendant launched a counterattack, bashing the older man with a stick, leaving the victim with injuries to the face that took three weeks to heal, the high court found.

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