Tag - minamata-disease

 
 

MINAMATA DISEASE

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.
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
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 / 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.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 14, 2016
City of Niigata appeals ruling that recognized seven people with late-onset Minamata disease
The Niigata Municipal Government is appealing a court ruling that recognized late-onset Minamata disease, which is caused by mercury poisoning from industrial pollution.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 31, 2016
In landmark ruling, court orders city of Niigata to recognize seven as Minamata disease victims
A district court has ordered the Niigata Municipal Government to officially recognize seven people as sufferers of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 2, 2016
Minamata marks 60th anniversary since mercury-poisoning disease was recognized
Around 50 people prayed for the victims of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease at a memorial ceremony in Kyushu on Sunday, marking the 60th anniversary of Japan's official recognition of the illness linked to industrial pollution.
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.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on