Delegates pay tribute at Minamata mercury poison site

Factory owner was none other than the crown princess' grand father. I guess shame only goes one generation unless you are poor.

It is surprising how many younger people know absolutely nothing about this. It makes me wonder if it has deliberately surpressed from the history books in school. The scandal surrounding this tragic event is ridiculous. The government ignored the problem and it took five years before they actually admitted there was a problem and it was only due to the hundreds of people protesting and pleading through the media that they acknowledged there was a problem. It then took another two years before they shut down the plant. If you fel like being totally sick to your stomach you can find the full documentary on YouTube (in English). Oh, and did I mention, nobody went to jail for poisoning a whole town? It's kind similar to those mullets in Fukushima being ae to walk around freely while they poison a third of Japan and the Pacific Ocean.

I saw a documentary about it at school. Professors at the sustainability department showed it. The posiinig problem lasted several years (about 30) as far as I remembered from the class. The government knew about the problem but they couldt care much as the company was boosting the area's economy. Needles to say that "sumimasen" was the compensation that the victims recieved and even in the 90's the government never offered a compensation to these people (just like Fukushima). The worst thing is that many people, people who suffered the consecuences, people who lived the horror, were happy with about it as they, in their words, were thankful because there was plenty of jobs and money in the region.

Oh, and did I mention, nobody went to jail for poisoning a whole town? It's kind similar to those mullets in Fukushima being ae to walk around freely while they poison a third of Japan and the Pacific Ocean.

@Disillusioned is right, not only water but people. And they don't care. In general we just don't care because its "not happening here".

Actually Heda_Madness, there are many similarities between what happened in Minamata and what is happening in Fukushima. The company is left alone to do their own thing, the media is kept out, the victims are receiving very little compensation, they are procrastinating over compensation payouts, they are downplaying the severity of the incident, the government is stating "it's under control" and, nobody is going to jail! It's Groundhog Day!

what happens after dedicate at fukushima , case by Tokyo electric miss , who many peoples ? will ile and died in next 7 years . i think misalliance ile in Tokyo and misalliance die around the world too.... because world is not rich and reassure of information and medical facilities . wish it will not happened please save the human being as human

There was another case called itai itai disease back in the 50's caused by cadmium poisoning in Toyama prefecture. The litigation continues with the Minamata case in Niigata District Court.

＠ Disillusioned

Thanks for the info. I must admit I was one of the ones that didn't know the full picture behind this tragedy. This is absolutely terrible, and it is kind of scary considering the cover-ups and what is going on Fukushima at the moment.

The continued attack on the use of mercury is an absurd overreaction- there is far more mercury released by natural sources including bush fires, volcanic eruptions than human's caused release. Also mercury is transformed from the dangerous elemental and methylmercury (Minamata) to harmless forms by all sorts of living and nonliving processes. Mercury in fish not contaminated by methylmercury is no danger to humans at all.

Bet the crown princes grandfather (owner of the factory) wasn't prosecuted either

And in 40 years they'll have admitted how bad Fukushima was, talk about how "regrettable" it was, and offer a bouquet. Will anyone have been punished? No. Could, as with Minamoto, could a lot of the damage been prevented? Yes. Until they address the problems of the present, this gesture is as hollow as a broken glass.