Speaking of water issues, I’ve been thinking about Minamata for many years.
My mother’s family home was in Minamata, and my uncle worked at the Chisso Minamata Factory.
The Chisso Minamata Factory continued to discharge industrial wastewater containing organic mercury into the sea, polluting the sea and seafood. Minamata City in Kumamoto Prefecture in the Southwest Island Kyushu, became known as one of the “four major pollution areas in Japan” and the “Minamata disease town.”
“Minamata disease” was officially discovered in 1956. The victims were poor fishermen, their families, and the children they had. Those children are now around 70 years old.
The Minamata disease lawsuits pitted victims and their supporters against Chisso, Kumamoto Prefecture, and the national government.
Dr. Masazumi Harada, a doctor at Kumamoto University, discovered and supported patients with fetal Minamata disease, bringing Minamata disease to the world’s attention.
In addition to suffering physical disabilities, the fishermen lost their jobs, their incomes were cut off, and they had to raise children born with severe disabilities. They also faced severe discrimination.
Professor Harada said, “I thought that pollution-related diseases would give rise to discrimination, but that is not the case; rather, pollution arrived in places where discrimination already existed.”
In other words, pollution was forced upon places with social inequality, poor areas.
“Minamata Studies” was born as a way to continue learning about what happened in Minamata.
Once the sea is polluted, it cannot be restored to its original state. Many creatures and people were killed and injured.
Dangerous toxins continue to linger in the reclaimed sea to this day.
