A Tokyo nonprofit organization is launching a major series of lectures on Minamata disease, following a first round in 2012, as part of continuing efforts to spread awareness of the tragedy.
Minamata disease was identified in 1956 as a form of mercury poisoning stemming from the discharge of polluted wastewater for more than three decades from a plant operated by Chisso Corp. into the Shiranui Sea off Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture.
Hundreds of victims have died, but some estimates say more than 100,000 people may have been affected in some way.