Minamata Disease Q&As

Minamata Disease Q1: What is Minamata Disease?

A: Minamata Disease is a public health tragedy suffered by fishermen and local residents from the fish they ate in their daily lives. It is not an infectious disease, but poisoning caused by methylmercury, which affects the nervous system. Teruo Kawamoto, who led the fight against Minamata disease, said, "Minamata disease is not a disease, it is an injury. We have been poisoned with organic mercury. It is aninjustice we suffered."

Minamata Disease Q2: What causes Minamata disease?

A: In the Minamata factory process where acetaldehyde, a raw material for plastics and chemical fertilizers, is produced by the Chisso Corporation, mercury was introduced as a catalyst to facilitate the reaction.The inorganic mercury changed into methylmercury in the process. The liquid waste containing toxic methylmercury was dumped directly into Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, where it accumulated in plankton in the seawater, passed through small young fish, and then accumulated into the fish and

shellfish that ate them. In such a "food chain," mercury concentrations increase, but the fish still appear fresh. Fishermen and coastal residents who continued to eat these fish as part of their daily diet developed the disease. It was not until 1956 that the disease was first reported to the public health department as a "strange disease." (Thus 1956 was the official confirmation of the poisoning.)

Although initially mistaken for an epidemic, it was determined the following year to be food poisoning from eating contaminated fish. Because it is food poisoning, it is not transmitted by contact with the patient.

Mercury is harmful to the human body, but when it becomes organic mercury (methylmercury), it can cross the body's protective barrier, entering into the most important parts of the human body, such as the brain and placenta, where inorganic mercury cannot enter, causing serious health problems. Methylmercury is gradually eliminated from the body, but damage caused to the nerve cells destroyed by methylmercury in the body are irreversible, so the disorder can never be cured.

Minamata Disease Q3: Who is responsible?

A: Chisso's responsibility is grave for concealing information about the experimental results of Minamata disease in the cat fed Chisso waste water, and in obstructing the investigation into the cause of Minamata disease. In 1973, the Kumamoto District Court ruled that Chisso was responsible for compensating Minamata disease patients.

But what is being questioned at the same time is the responsibility of the national government and Kumamoto Prefecture in the 1950s and 60s when Minamata disease occurred. Even though the pathogen was unknown, they knew that eating fish from Minamata Bay would cause illness. However, they failed to take action by banning the catching, selling, and eating of fish from Minamata Bay. There was also no investigation of the food poisoning by the public health department. The plant was never investigated by the police or ordered to cease operations by the government. The government's failure to take measures to prevent marine pollution and to have more people falling ill is also a major cause of the spread of Minamata disease to this extent.

"Produce as much as you can and sell as much as you can." The Ministry of International Trade and Industry* which promotes such industrial production, threatened the Ministry of Health and Welfare** and the Fisheries Agency, which investigate health and fishery damage, and those who were threatened backed down and disbanded the National Investigation Committee that was investigating the cause in

1959. Much later, in 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that the national government and Kumamoto Prefecture were also responsible for Minamata disease, but this was 48 years after the official confirmation.

*The Ministry of International Trade and Industry is now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

**The Ministry of Health and Welfare is now the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Minamata Disease Q4:

What are the patients and residents suffering from?

A: First is the suffering caused by the poisoning. In severe, acute cases, people suffered from severe ataxia, dysarthria (speech sound disorder resulting from neurological injury), and narrowing of the visual field, and died of repeated convulsions in Minamata City and nearby fishing villages. Children who were initially diagnosed with cerebral palsy later to be confirmed to have congenital Minamata disease patients were exposed to mercury in their mothers' womb. In the case of bedridden patients, it is

necessary to take care of them throughout the day and night, which places a heavy burden on the family.

Not only acute cases found early on are Minamata disease. Many residents still cannot be certified as Minamata disease because the government's certification standards are too strict. The neurological symptoms of many Minamata disease patients such as headache, dizziness, lightheadedness, sluggishness, numbness, and decreased sensation were difficult to recognize, so patients have had to fight the misconception that they were "fake patients."

In the early days, people were discriminated against because it was thought that it was a contagious disease, but in Minamata, where Chisso ruled like a feudal lord, patients who complained about the disease were criticized as those who threatened Chisso's management and hindered the city's prosperity. Fishermen's houses are not bound by Chisso's interests, but in some areas, fishing cooperatives agreed not to apply for certification because the price of the fish they ship would fall or they would not be able to sell them if there were patients from fishing villages. The patients continued to be pushed into an atmosphere where it was difficult for them to talk about their illness.

Although local prejudice and pressure have gradually diminished through patients' courageous battles and court victories, some people are still hesitant to apply for patient recognition or to participate in court proceedings because they will be seen as seeking compensation.

Minamata is a city rich in nature and today has a high level of environmental awareness among its residents, but if solely the seriousness of Minamata disease is known to the public, prejudice and discrimination against the community will continue to exist. When junior high and high school students from Minamata go to participate in sport events, they are sometimes called "Minamata disease" even to this day. However, recently, some students have started to talk back.

Minamata Disease Q5: How many patients and victims are there?

A: In 1995 and 2009, the government and the Diet established "relief measures", but they have yet to save all the victims. Even today, there is no end to the number of people applying newly for certification. The exact number of patients is not yet known because no comprehensive survey of the actual damage in the mercury-contaminated areas has ever been undertaken. For those who have not yet been certified, the greatest suffering is that their illness is not recognized as Minamata disease.

In fact, in 1978, Chisso was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the burden of compensation payments. However, to make Chisso continue to be liable for compensation and pay, the government continued to lend the company money on extraordinarily good terms.

Under these circumstances, the "certification system" which was supposed to provide prompt relief to patients, instead cut off most applicants, saying they did not have Minamata disease. This "narrownessof the certification system" is the main reason why lawsuits seeking confirmation of patient status and compensation are still ongoing.

Instead of waiting for patients' applications to be reviewed, the health of coastal residents should first be comprehensively investigated. Kumamoto Prefecture planned a "health survey of 470,000 coastal residents" during the tenure of former governor Yoshiko Shiotani, but this was not carried out, in part due to the non-cooperation of the national government's Ministry of the Environment.

Over the past half century, only 3,000 people, including those in Niigata, have been officially recognized as Minamata disease patients, as shown in the upper right corner of the table at the bottom of this page. There are approximately 70,000 people who have been boxed into enduring two government bailout programs that were ambiguous about who was responsible for causing the disease and the amount of

compensation. As mentioned above, the former governor of Kumamoto Prefecture decided to conduct a health survey of 470,000 residents, including those in neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture. The variance of these three figures are truly extreme, and unless this discrepancy is reconciled, it is impossible to get a complete picture of the damage caused by Minamata disease.

Minamata Disease Q6: Has the sea become clean?

A: A huge landfill (eco-park) has been created by reclaiming the mercury sludge with a concentration of 25 ppm or higher that polluted Minamata Bay. However, sludge with less concentration of mercury remains in the bay and in the Shiranui Sea. In addition, methylmercury is soluble in water, tasteless and odorless, and cannot be fully recovered. Even mercury sealed in landfills cannot be considered safe, considering

the effects of earthquakes and other disasters. However, the amount of methylmercury currently found in the fish is within (below) the national standard. If you have a chance to visit Minamata, please enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Shiranui Sea while tasting the fish. The fishing industry in the Shiranui Sea is still recovering. It is said that overfishing and the loss of seaweed beds due to the construction of sea walls have had an impact.

Minamata Disease Q6: How are the Minamata disease incident and the struggles of patients and residents connected to our daily lives?

①A Wake-up Call for PeopleAaround the World:

Trace amounts of mercury contamination are a problem not only in the Shiranui Sea, but in oceans around the world. For this reason, an international treaty regulating mercury was signed at a conference which took place in Minamata City in 2013; at this Conference of the Parties to the Mercury Convention held in Geneva in September 2017, Shinobu Sakamoto, a congenital Minamata disease patient, called for continued work in ending mercury pollution, saying "Minamata has not ended." Even some fish such as tuna and snapper widely eaten in cities have high levels of mercury. While maintaining the culture of eating fish, it is necessary to warn women in the late stages of pregnancy to be cautious about the species of fish eaten and reduce intake. The experience of Minamata disease is a wake-up call to environmental pollution on a global scale.

②Tragedy in the Shadow of Urban Prosperity:

PVC and plastic products, plastic houses, and chemical fiber clothing...we have enjoyed the convenience and affluence of products mass-produced by Chisso Corporation, without regard to the pollution of the oceans. Minamata disease has taught us that we must always consider who is being sacrified behind the scenes. The same is true of electricity produced by nuclear power plants.

③Patients' Courageous Struggle:

The courageous struggles of the patients have paved the way for relief for the victims, including the first lawsuit (1969-73; patients won the case), the direct negotiations with Chisso (1971-73; compensation agreement concluded), the Kansai lawsuit (1982-2004; patients won the case), the Mizoguchi administrative lawsuit (2001-2013; patients won the case), and so on. The persistent struggle of those who challenge the injustice that is the Minamata disease situation give us courage.

④Compassion for Life:

There are congenital Minamata disease patients who say to their mothers, "Thank you for giving birth to me." There is a mother who says that this child has taken the mercury poison out of her and is a "treasure child" to her family. These patients teach us about the sanctity of life and the bonds of family.

⑤Rich Climate and High Environmental Awareness:

Minamata is a scenic area blessed with calm seas and abundant groundwater. Surrounded by the sea and fields, people are now engaged in agriculture - reducing the use of pesticides and revitalizing the fishing industry. Minamata City's recycling of garbage rate is one of the highest in Japan and is a high-quality recycled resource. In 2010, Minamata City won the title of "Environmental Capital of Japan" in a national environmental city competition organized by an NGO.