The central government has restarted work to officially recognize sufferers of Minamata disease — this time under a new guideline that the Environment Ministry in March adopted ostensibly with the intention of recognizing more sufferers of Japan’s most serious pollution-induced illness, caused by organic mercury.
Originally Minamata disease was found among people who ate fish contaminated with organic mercury contained in liquid waste released from a Chisso Corp. factory into Minamata Bay in Kumamoto Prefecture.
The work to recognize Minamata disease sufferers has been in a state of confusion for many years because the government would not change its harsh criteria adopted in 1977, despite the Supreme Court's rulings in later years that adopted relaxed standards for recognizing plaintiffs as victims of the disease so they could qualify for compensation.