Minamata

Based on primary documents and interviews, this text describes three rounds of responses to a tragic case of mercury poisoning, focusing on the efforts of its victims and their supporters to secure redress.

Nearly forty years after the outbreak of the “Minamata Disease,” it remains one of the most horrific examples of environmental poisoning. Based on primary documents and interviews, this book describes three rounds of responses to this incidence of mercury poisoning, focusing on the efforts of its victims and their supporters, particularly the activities of grassroots movements and popular campaigns, to secure redress. Timothy S. George argues that Japan’s postwar democracy is ad hoc, fragile, and dependent on definition through citizen action and that the redress effort is exemplary of the great changes in the second and third postwar decades that redefined democracy in Japan.

A powerful graphic novel /manga that tells the story of "Minamata disease," a debilitating and sometimes fatal condition caused by the Chisso chemical factory's careless release of methylmercury into the waters of the coastal community of Minamata in southern Japan. First identified in 1956, it became a hot topic in Japan in the 1970s and 80s, growing into an iconic struggle between people versus corporations and government agencies. This struggle is relevant today, not simply because many people are still living with the disease but also because, in this time of growing concern over the safety of our environment--viz. Flint, Michigan--Minamata gives us as a very moving example of such human-caused environmental disasters and what we can do about them.

The cause of Minamata disease—a fatal illness that attacks the nervous system—was first pinpointed in 1957 as organic mercury poisoning from effluent released by the Chisso Corp., a chemical manufacturer and the largest employer in the Japanese city for which the disease was named. For the next 20 years the company denied responsibility, and was joined by the government in its attempt to cover up the problem. One courageous woman, Michiko Shirashi, took up the cause of the people affected by the disease; her book, Paradise of the Bitter Sea , won nationwide recognition and support for the victims. Freelance journalist Mishima gives a gripping account of this long, bitter struggle, with Shirashi at the center. There were lawsuits that ran on for years, and sit-ins at company offices. Finally, there was some recompense for the victims and a start on cleanup. This story is dramatic evidence of the results of a national policy of prosperity at any cost; it permitted one company to irrevocably damage the waters around Minamata. Black-and-white photos.

A moving account of Minamata disease victims' struggle for recognition and support in the years after mercury pollution was discovered in a group of fishing villages

In the early 1950s fisherfolk and other villagers around Minamata Bay on the western coast of Kyushu, Japan, began to suffer from mysterious and often fatal symptoms of what came to be known as Minamata disease. It was not until 1968 that the government acknowledged its cause—organic mercury poisoning from effluent released by Chisso Corporation, a chemical manufacturer and the largest employer in the Japanese city for which the disease was named. For decades the company denied responsibility and was joined by the Japanese government in its attempt to cover up the problem despite lawsuits and political protests. In this compelling oral history, Ogata Masato, fisherman and Minamata disease sufferer, tells of the devastation of methyl mercury poisoning. Spanning fifty years, his story describes the impact of industrial pollution on his own life, on his extended family, and on the fishing culture of the Shiranui Sea. A one-time leader of Minamata disease patients seeking certification and compensation, Masato breaks away to follow his personal path to redemption. Masato's story begins with the vibrant village of his childhood and culminates with the possibility of return, if not to one's birthplace, then to a spiritual community, to a consciousness that we owe our existence to the web of interrelationships that constitute life. When we turn full circle, explains Masato, we find ourselves again at the water's edge, a place where all life gathers. This is the launching point for "Tokoyo," boat of the Eternal World-a world defined at once by the past, present and future; a state of mind in which we are responsible not only for our own actions but for those of our society and our species. Masato's story, larger than any one man or one incident, raises questions we must all consider as beneficiaries of modern industry and technology.

In her book A World Otherwise: Environmental Praxis in Minamata, Yuki Miyamoto examines the struggles of those suffering from Minamata disease, eponymous with the Japanese city in which a Chisso factory released methylmercury into the Shiranui Sea, leading to widespread poisonings. Miyamoto explores Minamata sufferers’ struggles, examining their physical pains as well as the emotional plight of having lost their loved ones, their livelihood, and fellowship in communities, to the illness. Miyamoto’s analysis focuses on the philosophies and actions of a group, Hongan no kai, comprised of Minamata disease sufferers and their supporters in 1994. Relying on the group’s newsletter, “Tamashii utsure” (Transferring the spirit), this monograph explores the ways in which Hongan no kai members have come to terms with their experiences as well as their visions of “a world otherwise” (janaka shaba), where ontology, epistemology, and worldviews are construed differently from those of this modern world.

"[This book] traces the tragic story of toxic wastewater from a factory that poisoned an entire Japanese town. Photos of the actual events, maps, and fact boxes [complement] the text"--Amazon.com.

A clear, straightforward presentation of concepts and issues in aquatic pollution This comprehensive introductory text presents a systematic study of pollution in oceans, lakes, streams, and underground aquifers. In a clear, straightforward style that is easily accessible to nonscientists, it describes the sources, features, and effects of thirteen different types of aquatic pollution. Fully updated to reflect current understanding and recent developments, this Third Edition of Aquatic Pollution covers every aspect of pollution associated with urban runoff, acid rain, sewage disposal, pesticides, oil spills, nutrient loading, and more. Case studies of major pollution sites such as Lake Erie, Three Mile Island, and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal help to illustrate points made in the general discussion. Important features of this new edition include: * Updated discussions of nonpoint source pollution, industrial pollution, thermal pollution, pathogens, metals, plastics, and more * New case studies of Chesapeake Bay and the Exxon Valdez * Beginning-of-chapter outlines * End-of-chapter study questions * New special section on units of measurement * Four chapters on the fundamentals of ecology and toxicology Aquatic Pollution, Third Edition, is a first-rate teaching and learning tool for courses in environmental science, zoology, oceanography, biology, and civil or sanitary engineering. It is also an excellent primer for policymakers and activists focused on environmental issues.