The Supreme Court on Friday held the state responsible for the spread of Minamata disease after January 1960.

The ruling brought to a close the only Minamata disease-related lawsuit that had sought to establish government responsibility over the outbreak of the mercury-poisoning disease.

It marked the first judgment by the top court on government responsibility in preventing the outbreak and spread of the disease, which killed hundreds of people, disabled thousands and produced birth defects in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, and surrounding areas.