Minamata city is located on the west coast of Kyushu, Southern part of Japan. Minamata city is well know due to one of the four big man-made diseases of Japan, “Minamata disease”.
The first Minamata disease incident discovered in 1956. The disease is a food poisoning caused by the consumption of contaminated fish by methylmercury from the Minamata Bay.
The patients showed neurological syndrome and the investigations have identified the cause of disease was due to the waste water release from Chisso Corporations; however, the company and the government did not take any action until 1968.
This is because in the 1950s and 1960s, the government put emphasis on industrial development and Chisso Corporations had great influence in Japanese industry which produced 80-90 % of octanol in Japan for the production of plastics.
In addition, due to the lack of knowledge in the Japanese medical community, application of the Food Sanitation Act which deals with food poisoning was failed and preventative measures towards to the prevention of disease were delayed.
The history of Minamata disease telling us that proper public health policy application is important for the prevention of disease.