Minamata’s Fight for Justice: How Japan’s Failed Debate and Response Sparked Local and Global Change
1969-Present
To receive compensation, victims needed official certification—an inefficient process due to the stringent symptoms list. Kumamoto Prefecture established a screening committee in the early 1960s; Japan enacted Special Measures for the Relief of Pollution-Related Health Damage in 1969.
Diagram of the certification process after 1969, Minamata Disease Municipal Museum
Graph comparing the number of certified, denied, and waiting victims from 1968-2015, Minamata Disease Museum
Victims filed various lawsuits, revising the reparations system and enforcing accountability. In June 1969, patients sued Chisso in the Kumamoto District Court for ¥1,588 million in damages. The court sided with them in 1973, admonishing the company’s negligence and demanding ¥16-18 million per victim. The 1959 agreements were also nullified under the opinion that Chisso had taken advantage of victims’ poverty and desperation by offering unfairly low compensation and preventing them from receiving further amounts.
Protest meeting in front of Chisso's main gates, Minamata Disease Municipal Museum
Japanese Decide Pollution Case, 1973, The New York Times
"It must be said that a chemical plant, in discharging the waste water out of the plant, incurs an obligation to be highly diligent...no plant can be permitted to infringe on and run at the sacrifice of the lives and health of the regional residents.
[T]he defendant cannot escape from the liability of negligence."
~Kumamoto District Court, 1973, University of Liverpool
Additional cases broadened certification criteria, held the national government and Kumamoto responsible, and demanded further compensation. Victims negotiated with Chisso for compensation amidst criticism.
Patients and relatives protesting with photographs of deceased victims on the last day of the Minamata Trial, 1972, Magnum Photos
Demonstration at the Chisso plant near Tokyo, 1971, Magnum Photos
“Don’t you understand why I weep? My father died mad because of mercury discharged from Chisso.”
~Teruo Kawamoto to Chisso's president, Minamata Disease Municipal Museum
“My husband [Teruo Kawamoto] always said, ‘I must assist as many patients as possible.’ A direct negotiation with the President of Chisso lasted as long as 13 hours straight with no breaks...A negotiation in Tokyo lasted as long as one year and nine months until reaching a compensation agreement.”
~Miyako Kawamoto, Minamata Disease Municipal Museum
“The movement spread so quickly when we started. Everyone felt able to say that they might also be Minamata disease victims.”
~Saburo Hashiguchi, Co-Founder of the Minamata Disease Victims Group, Minamata Disease Municipal Museum
Kawamoto confronting Chisso executives, The Asia-Pacific Journal
Fujie Sakamoto, mother of congenital Minamata disease victim Shinobu Sakamoto, asks Chisso president Shimada about annual payments, Kyoto Journal
“It may be true that these people ate fish from the bay, but just because their fingers are numb doesn’t mean they have Minamata disease…Some people exaggerate their problems to win compensation."
~Koichi Sato, Kumamoto Prefecture environmental official, 1987, LA Times
Japan established the Water Pollution Control Law in 1970 and the Environment Agency in 1971. By 1974, Kumamoto Prefecture implemented plans to clean the bay. Agreements continued between Minamata and Chisso to limit pollution.
“The Kumamoto Prefectural Government began work Aug. 21 to remove nets from the mouth of Minamata Bay, put in place more than two decades ago to prevent mercury-contaminated fish from leaving the bay and spreading disease.”
~Japan Times, 1997
Removal of dividing nets, 1997, Minamata Disease Municipal Museum
Graph of the decline in mercury levels detected within fish from 1965-1977, Japanese Ministry of the Environment
Dredging of Minamata Bay for mercury removal from 1974-1990, Japanese Ministry of the Environment
Awaiting Closure
While over 2,985 people have officially been diagnosed, this does not include those who suffered before the certification system’s creation or received relief through other means. Many await compensation today.
“Chisso simply being charged with guilt over the issue doesn’t mean an end. Minamata disease has effectively destroyed people to their very spirit, and to heal this many things must be looked at, or else I don’t feel that the issue has really been concluded.”
~Takeshi Sugimoto, Minamata Disease Municipal Museum
"Our physical conditions and symptoms change daily. The company and the authorities may be able to help us financially, but they can’t save our hearts.”
~Masami Ogata, Al Jazeera
Chart of current applications for certification of Minamata disease, 2021, Minamata Disease Municipal Museum
