Meiji University and a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization launched an exhibition on Minamata disease Saturday at the university's central Tokyo campus to show how victims of the mercury-poisoning disease have struggled, and what society can learn from the tragedy.
Beneath the portraits of 491 deceased Minamata sufferers that are displayed in the exhibition hall, visitors can follow the history of the disease, officially recognized in 1956 in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, through around 360 exhibited items, including panels and photographs.
The neurological illness, caused by mercury-tainted water dumped into the sea by chemical maker Chisso Corp., has affected coastal residents in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures. The disease was later confirmed in Niigata Prefecture in 1965 and was caused by wastewater from a Showa Denko K.K. plant.