Minamata disease was the result of severe mercury poisoning in a fishing area of Minamata City in Kuamoto, an area on the coast of southern Japan. Because of the location of this city, fishing was both a main source of income and food. Before coming on this trip, I had learned about this tragedy in some of my public health and chemistry classes but we only briefly covered the topic. I learned more about it when researching before the trip, and when watching an informative video during the trip, however, only when visiting Minamata did I truly understand the severity of this horrible disease.
The residents of Minamata began first seeing symptoms of the disease around 1956 which included losing control of motor functions, difficulties speaking and walking, and convulsions. The disease was seen in cats, and in people all around the village with the most severe cases happening in children and the elderly. Years later it was discovered that a nearby plant owned by the Chisso Corporation has been dumping dangerous chemicals into the water near Minamata which affected the fish and everyone who ate the fish. While some people were able to go elsewhere for food, many of the residents continued to eat the fish because they could not afford anything else.
During our trip, we visited the city of Minamata where we went to the Minamata Disease Municipal Museum. This museum not only serves as a memorial for the victims but as a tool to inform the community about Minamata disease. The goal of this museum is to spread awareness to prevent this tragic incident from ever happening again.
At this museum, we were lucky enough to be able to listen to a survivor of the disease tell her touching story. Ms. Ueno told us about the suffering her family went through as she lost most of the members of her family including her husband and daughter shortly after. Her husband died within nine days of his first symptoms being expressed with doctors not sure how to treat him. When they realized he was suffering from Minamata disease, they then began to study him and he felt more like an experiment rather than a victim. After he died, Ms. Ueno gave birth to her daughter who seemed healthy at first. However, it became apparent that her daughter also suffered severe effects from Minamata disease. As her daughter struggled from paralysis, as well as hearing impairment and loss of coordination in limbs along with other horrible symptoms of the disease, Ms. Ueno couldn’t help but feel guilty. Seeing the pain in her eyes was heartbreaking as she described the hard life she and her daughter had to live, and how she continued to fight even after her daughter’s death at three years old.
Ms. Ueno was nine months pregnant when her husband passed from Minamata disease, so she was confident that her daughter also suffered from the disease. However, at that time there was no knowledge about fetal and infantile Minamata disease. It would later be discovered that a pregnant mother who ingested methyl mercury transferred to it to their fetus through the umbilical cord. Some infants lived with fetal Minamata and some succumbed to infantile Minamata disease and died.
During her daughter’s short life, Ms. Ueno devoted all her time to either caring for her daughter or fighting to be recognized as a victim and hold the Chisso company responsible. One area of the museum focused on the victim’s struggle to be recognized as victims and be compensated. There were certification systems which had specific requirements for victims to be provided relief. Ms. Ueno described how some of the worst of her pains were the discrimination and bullying her daughter and herself endured. Especially before the truth came out about the cause of the disease, there was a fear of the disease being contagious. After the cause was determined, there was still terrible discrimination including refusal of jobs and turned down marriage proposals. Ms. Ueno spoke about how people would point and laugh at her daughter, and the pain she felt watching this happen.
The community of Minamata came together and started a grassroots movement to demand Chisso take responsibility. Ms. Ueno and her daughter participated in the sit-ins in front of Chisso which continued until 1995. Chisso along with the city of Minamata embarked on an environmental restoration project with the goal of a safe community with improved medical and welfare services. By 1990, the environment was completely restored, and today Minamata Bay reports levels of mercury even lower than other regions of Japan. There are areas in the city where victims can live with proper medical care and feel comfortable in their community. Minamata disease has influenced many larger environmental movements and has been a lesson to other developing countries that still face similar issues.
Hearing Ms. Ueno’s heartbreaking story and listening to her detailed explanations of how she took care of her husband and daughter made the horrible effects of the disease so much more apparent to me. The pain she suffered from watching her loved ones suffer affected everyone in the room and made it clear that she was telling her story to make sure no one would have to go through what she has gone through.