Minamata Story
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In 1908, Shin Nippon Chisso built a factory in Minamata,
a small fishing village in Kumamoto, Kyushu
The company manufactured nitrogenous fertilizers,
and soon became the major industry in Minamata
By the mid 1950s, Shin Nippon Chisso
had become the industry leader in its field
In 1954, the sanitation office of Minamata City
began receiving reports of an unknown
epilepsy-like affliction, which has since become known
as the minamata disease
Since the course of the disease had not been identified,
patients were isolated to prevent the spread of the disease
Minamata disease is a neurological condition
mercury poisons the central nervous system,
damages the sense of balance and motor skills,
which leads to increasingly intense body convulsions
and ultimately, death
In 1957, the Minamata Disease Research Group of Kumamoto University
announced that Minamata Disease is a toxic disorder of the central nervous system
caused by certain organic mercury compound
transmitted through the intact of seafoods
They isolated organic mercury as the sole cause
through a series of experiments on cats
In the same year extremely toxic levels of organic mercury
were detected in the human patients
The report submitted to the Ministry of Health and Welfare
stated that the underlying cause was organic mercury in seafood
and the waste water discharged from the factory was suspected
Affected patients continued to be found until 1960
A rash of baby were born with brain damage and extreme physical disabilities
The Governor of Kumamoto requested a voluntary of ban on
captures of sea foods from the bay