Tag - minamata

 
 

MINAMATA

A group of plaintiffs in a lawsuit demanding that they be recognized as Minamata disease patients hold a news conference in Niigata on Thursday following a ruling by the Niigata District Court.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2024
Japanese court orders damages over Niigata Minamata disease
Similar lawsuits have been filed at four district courts across the country.
Lawyers representing plaintiffs in lawsuits seeking damages for Minamata disease hold banners outside the Kumamoto District Court in the city of Kumamoto on Friday, criticizing the ruling as “unjust.”
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 22, 2024
Japan court rejects redress claims by unrecognized Minamata victims
Across Japan, nearly 1,800 individuals have filed similar lawsuits, with 1,400 cases consolidated in the Kumamoto district court.
Minamata Disease sufferers Suemi Sato (left) and her husband Hideki deliver a speech at a meeting of the parties of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Geneva on Monday.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 1, 2023
Japan couple calls for broader action at Minamata treaty meeting
Hideki and Suemi Sato said they hoped people in the world will learn more about the dangers of mercury, in a speech they delivered jointly in Geneva.
Environment Minister Shintaro Ito speaks to reporters at the ministry on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2023
Tokyo and Kumamoto appeal ruling in favor of Minamata victims
The ruling found that plaintiffs not eligible for relief payments under a 2009 special law were affected by the mercury poisoning disease.
Lawyers representing plaintiffs of a lawsuit demanding damages after being rejected from a special Minamata disease relief program as sufferers of the disease hold up signs in front of the Osaka District Court on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2023
Court recognizes 128 plaintiffs as Minamata disease sufferers
Presiding Judge Yuki Tatsuno ordered that ¥2.75 million in damages be paid to each of the 128 people who sued the central government.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 2, 2021
‘Minamata Mandala’: An unfinished battle for accountability
Documentary film director Kazuo Hara chronicles the ongoing struggles of Minamata disease victims to hold the state responsible in one of Japan's worst cases of industrial pollution.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 23, 2021
Johnny Depp film sees Minamata pollution issue as cautionary tale
The film 'Minamata,' which Johnny Depp produced and stars in, spreads awareness on the act of industrial pollution that devastated the southwestern Japanese coastal community of Minamata.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Oct 24, 2020
Minamata disease victims struggle to find closure
More than 60 years after first raising awareness about a neurological disease caused by industrial mercury poisoning, photojournalist Aileen M. Smith still wants answers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Oct 9, 2020
People with Minamata disease offer life lessons for Oita students
School students learn about mercury pollution and related stigma that are associated with the illness.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2019
Dancer aims to reinvent Minamata, long known for disease caused by pollution, into a city of samba
Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture has long been known mainly for a deadly industrial pollution debacle that occurred decades ago, but a dancing teacher hopes he can help reinvent it into the city of samba.
Japan Times
JAPAN / OBITUARY
Nov 7, 2018
Citizens' group leader Fumiko Hiyoshi, who worked for sufferers of Minamata disease, dies at 103
Fumiko Hiyoshi, who headed a citizens' group and supported Minamata disease sufferers for more than half a century, died Wednesday due to old age at a nursing home in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, a person close to her family said. She was 103.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2018
Michiko Ishimure, award-winning author who raised public awareness of Minamata disease, dies at 90
Michiko Ishimure, an award-winning author and social critic whose works put the spotlight on what became known as Minamata disease, died early Saturday due to acute exacerbation of Parkinson's disease. She was 90.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2017
Minamata disease victims' voices dim with age but still cry for recognition
Shinobu Sakamoto was just 15 when she left home in the Kumamoto Prefecture fishing village of Minamata to go to Stockholm and tell the world of the horrors of mercury poisoning.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2017
International treaty on curbing mercury pollution enters into force
An international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury pollution entered into force Wednesday, paving the way for regulation of the manufacture, trading, use and disposal of the chemical.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2017
Minamata survivor to attend conference on treaty to prevent mercury pollution
A survivor of Minamata mercury poisoning disease will visit Switzerland next month to attend the first conference of signatory states to an international treaty to prevent mercury pollution, one of the organizers of her trip said Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 30, 2017
A fitting tribute to the city of Minamata
Suffering and stigma are being transformed into action: The entry into force of the Minamata Convention.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 19, 2017
Treaty against mercury pollution to enter force Aug. 16
An international anti-mercury pollution treaty will now go into force on Aug. 16 as the necessary number of countries have approved it, the secretariat of the pact said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 15, 2017
Niigata Minamata disease victims shed light on stigma in new book
The perils of mercury-poisoning are laid bare by victims of the Niigata Minamata disease who recount lingering social stigma and the importance of protecting the environment in a new book by a Tokyo publisher.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2017
Relief for Minamata victims
The government has done a poor job of identifying and providing relief to victims of Minamata disease.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 12, 2016
Tokyo play explores Minamata issue on the 60th anniversary of the official recognition of the mercury-poisoning disease
A play featuring a doctor involved in the identification of Minamata disease will open in a Tokyo theater on Friday, marking the 60th anniversary of the official recognition of the mercury-poisoning disease.

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