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July 05, 2025
 

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MINAMATA DISEASE

Activists, filmmakers and survivors attend a symposium in Tokyo marking 60 years since the discovery of Niigata Minamata disease.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 11, 2025
Film symposium marks 60 years since Niigata Minamata disease outbreak
The disease caused by mercury poisoning was documented in such films as “Fighting Pollution” and “Minamata Mandala.”
Eiichi Minagawa, the representative of a victim group of Niigata Minamata disease, speaks during a ceremony on Saturday to mark the 60th anniversary of the official recognition the disease.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2025
Ceremony marks 60 years since Niigata Minamata disease recognition
At the ceremony, about 300 people observed a moment of silence for the victims.
Environment Minister Keiichiro Asao attends a memorial service for Minamata disease victims in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture on Thursday.
JAPAN
May 1, 2025
Victims mourned 69 years after Minamata disease recognition
There were 2,284 certified patients of Minamata disease in Kumamoto Prefecture and neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture as of the end of March.
Environment Minister Shintaro Ito speaks during a meeting with people affected by Minamata disease held in the city of Niigata on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 17, 2024
Environment minister meets with people affected by Minamata disease in Niigata
The minister apologized over a recent incident in which citizens' remarks were cut short during an earlier meeting he attended in relation to the disease.
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.
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 / 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
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.
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.
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2016
The Minamata Convention
Having experienced the dreadful results of mercury poisoning, Japan has a responsibility to help other countries in their efforts to prevent such pollution.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2015
Niigata editor suspended after pseudonymous, slanderous tweets come to light
A head of the news section at a regional newspaper has been punished with unpaid, indefinite suspension after slandering a lawyer and other people on a social network service website, the newspaper revealed Friday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2014
Aiding more Minamata victims
Japan's government has restarted the process of officially recognizing more sufferers of Minamata disease — discovered decades ago to be the result of eating mercury-contaminated fish — under a new guideline that the Environment Agency adopted in March.
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2014
New burden for Minamata victims
The Environment Ministry appears to have relaxed conditions for the official recognition of Minamata disease victims, but the attached record-keeping requirements make it unlikely that many more people will receive financial relief.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2013
Minamata mercury treaty finds skeptics
Delegates from about 130 countries will gather Wednesday in the Kumamoto Prefecture cities of Minamata and Kumamoto for a three-day meeting to finalize a new international treaty seeking to ban or greatly limit the use of mercury.
EDITORIALS
Apr 22, 2013
Wider Minamata relief needed
The Supreme Court upholds the recognition of a Minamata disease victim who showed only a single symptom of the disease before she died 36 years ago at 77.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

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