In October 15 of 2004, supreme Curt admitted the responsibility of the State and the local government for the part of the victims who were rejected their right for relief measures by the Public Administration and certified them as a victim of methyl mercury poisoning. Many other victims who did not participate the lawsuit also begin to apply the certification of a Minamata Disease victim in Kumamote prefecture and Kagoshima prefecture.
It is sure that over 10,000 victims were certificated by the reconciliation with the State and Local governments (Prefectures), but there were many victims did not join the suit because they thought the administrative overpower would neglect them. However, now, a new movement for the true rescue of the Minamata victims starts.

I will know the true of Minamata Disease

Mitsuo Sasaki, age 65, lives in this small fishermans and farmers village along the curbing coast of Shiranui Bay, thirty minutes by automobile from the downtown of Minamata City in Kumamoto prefecture which is located in Kyushu, big island of southern Japan. Sasaki was born in the village and lives eating fishes and swimming in the sea almost every day.
The Chisso Corporation, producing fertilizer, came to Minamata town in 1908. Chisso means nitrogen. After this The Chisso Corporation continued dumping massive amount of methyl mercury wastes into the Minamata bay and Shiranui Sea. The first lawsuit began in 1969 by 112 persons of 29 families and the plaintiff got victory in 1973. In the Sasaki family, his parents, elder brother and younger sister were certificated as a victim by the public authority. Among them, Tsutako, his sister who was five old younger, was bedridden from childhood and died as age of 29 in 1974. She was discovered as a victim by the diagnostician survey by a democratic medical institution activity.
Sasaki who looks healthy has symptom of the difficulty of walking and griping power. Ten years ago, his application of the certification on the symptom of paralysis of hand and foot existed from his age of 25 was denied by the public authority because of his ten years absence in the village as Osaka resident from age 23 to 33.
Sasaki said I could not agree the decision. I used to eat same food of my family
However; he decided to apply once again to getting a victim certification of the public authority taking advantage of the result of the Supreme Court in last October. He came to see Dr. Shigeru Takaoka at Minamata Kyoritsu (Cooperative) Hospital, hoping the possibility of getting a victim certification now.

Increasing of the number of applicants for a victim certification

A workshop for Minamata Disease was held by the NPO Minamata gathering 100 people in last October. Dr. Tadashi Fujino and woman Dr.Yaeko Sakai at Min-iren Hospital in Kumamoto , who have been working hard for caring and helping victims of Minamata Disease for over thirty years. Dr. Takaoka also reported a survey of his patients of Minamata Disease through medical examination work for applicants whose number increased by 300 people after the judicial decision. The report by Dr. Takaoka shows a map of symptoms of eleven patients: all have sensitive disability; three patients have shortsighted disease caused by cardiac problem; 5cases of insensibility of upper limbs; 8 cases of that of lower limbs. Dr. Takaoka claimed that at least six patients should be registered as a victim under the certification norms of the State. We must recognize there are many Minamata Disease patients who are still not found by our medical activity.
Sasaki case also should be recognized by medical check as a victim because of his strong peripheral disabilities of his four limbs and movement disability, said Dr. Takaoka. Minamata Disease is still not over for many patients.

High court in Fukuoka Prefecture decided the diagnostician standard for Minamata Disease .

Minamata Disease discovered officially in 1956 through the case of small sisters disease became unprecedented public pollution disaster recognizing over 3,000 victims with acute symptom cases and embryo cases. Chisso Corporation continued dumping waste contaminated by mercury even after the court recognition of the cause of the Minamata Disease. The State also did not effective measure to preventing more disaster and consequently spread the disease among tens thousand inhabitants along Shiranui Sea coast. The State had implemented severe standard for the victim certification of Minamata Disease in 1977 in order to cut the number of victims: it is need the existence of plural symptoms for the recognition.
Victims sued against the State not only in Kumamoto but also in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. In 1985 Fukuoka High court gave decision the definition of Minamata Disease; Recognition of the victim is based on the fact that he or she had eaten much contaminated fishes and had the disability of peripheral nerve of four limbs. The judgment became a standard of the government help service and over ten thousand victims were adapted for the benefits.
However, the establishment of the definition of Minamata Disease had been done by the help of the data made by the Min-iren activity with Dr. Fujino as the central figure and other staffs which diagnosed over ten thousand patients.
Lawyer S.Sakai, secretary of the Minamata Disease suit lawyer group said about the judgment of lawsuit in Kansai district. The juridical definition of Minamata Disease was decided in the case of Fukuoka High Court and the judgment of the Supreme Court for Kasai suit also followed that of Fukuoka High. However, considering the increasing of the number of applicants, the State should review the recognition standard to widen the range of help and discuss the necessity of special act for rescue rest potential victims.

For helping undiscovered victims

The national union of the Minamata Disease Victims had to accept a reconciliation with the State in 1995 at the point of view from To help all victims within they live. Consequently, over eleven thousand patients were recognized as a victim. Considering 2500 people among them already died, reconciliation is seemed just decision. However thinking over the increasing number of the patients, it is need to claim the change of the established standard of certification by the State.
Hayao Arakawa, age 76, worked for Chisso Corporation for forty years as employee. He had nerve disability of four limbs during his holding office. He applied for the first time victim recognition advised by the Min-iren Kyoritsu (Cooperative) Hospital in June of 2004.
Arakawa said, Chisso corporation still continue their bad manner. They dumped mercury into the sea and both central government and local government gave priority over the profit activity of the cooperation.
After the Supreme Court judgment, the number of patients waiting the diagnostic carte for the application of the recognition becomes about one hundred people in the case of Kyoritsu Hospital.
In November 2004, Kumamoto prefecture Administration made a plan of the Minamata Disease Rescue Policy including main pillars such as; To do health survey for 470 thousand residents in the district of Yatsushiro Sea Coast; To pay medical care cost for the certificated victims due to the standard decided by Fukushima High Court. Regrettably enough, the central government still not move and not give new guideline for this plan.
For this situation, Kumamoto Min-iren plans to promote medical checkup for the potential victims in the community cooperating with National Min-iren.

Minamata Disease in Canada, the Federal government imitates the Japanese negative standard.

  It is said that Federal government of Kanada declared the mercury contamination of the English River and the Wabgoon River in Ontario. They say that the cause of contamination is considered the waste water from the paper pulp factory of the multinational located in the upper stream. A native inhabitant named the Ojibway, fishing people, live in the basin of the rivers and get high risk of becoming a victim of mercury contamination. Federal government stopped them to sell fishes and provided living benefit for the native people. However it was not enough help policy for them to stop eating fish and increased the mercury disease in the community.
The workshop held in last December, Ms. Ann MacDonald, assistant professor at Miyagi University reported the actual situation of the mercury disease among the Objiway.

Collapsing of the Native’s community.

Ms.MacDonald said, “The community of the Objiway has collapsed due to Minamata Disease. However Whiteman’s society has not given attention for the disaster and many patients are neglected from medical care and social assistance being left in the poverty. Because of Canadian government applied for their mercury disease victims with Japanese government standard of Minamata Disease, they have not recognized the slight disease patients as a victim..
Dr. Fujino, now retied person from Min-iren, who went to Ontario with professor Masazumi Harada at Kumamoto Gakuen University to give medical examination for the Ojibway, now still work for the Minamata Disease patients.
The contamination of mercury including in the field of fishery increases seriously at the global dimension. International cooperation against the disaster of Minamata Disease shall be widened in the world in order to prevent new victims in the future.