At the time of the incident, the town of Minamata, located in the southernmost part of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, was located in Japan.
Because of the large amount of seafood, the town has become the main fishing base for more than 40,000 people in the town.
In the early 1950s, however, many strange things happened in the town, beginning with the death of large numbers of seabirds.
The surface of the water was littered with the remains of dead fish and dead birds, and then people saw feral cats spasming their limbs in the town.
Walking is shaky, dancing, occasionally running wildly, and even the family cat has this strange disease.
This strange disease caused more than 50,000 cats to commit suicide in the sea, which was terrifying.
But everyone knew that a catastrophe was coming, on April 21, 1956.
A 5-year-old Shizuko Tanaka was admitted to the hospital, paralyzed and unable to walk or speak.
Finally, he lost his sight completely, his body spasmed uncontrollably, and died in groans of pain.
It wasn't long before a patient like Shizuko Tanaka appeared in Minamata Town.
But then there will be symptoms of muscle paralysis, cramps, limb deformities, and insanity.
Since this strange disease occurs in Minamata Town, it is called Minamata disease.
Half a million cats committed suicide by throwing themselves into the sea, and some even got strange diseases, their bodies changed dramatically, and they eventually died in groans of pain.
The whole town seemed to be cursed, and at that time, medical means were helpless, and only hopes were mysterious.
But the Japanese government quickly noticed the matter and set up an investigation team composed of multiple medical institutions.
At first, everyone thought it was an infectious disease, but later they found out that it was only in their town that had this phenomenon, so they began to investigate the seafood in Minamata Town.
The investigation team examined the bodies, seawater, and seafood of minamata patients, and sure enough, the test results showed that the wastewater discharged from the nitrogen fertilizer plant contained a large amount of mercury. After mercury precipitates in water, it is converted into highly toxic methylmercury by various microorganisms. Methyl mercury is the most toxic, and it can be fatal with just a little bit.
Now, I finally know the reason, but the Japanese government does not intend to pursue it.
In a small town of 40,000 people, more than 10,000 people are infected with Minamata disease, how can the Japanese government not investigate? In fact, the main cause of the poisoning was the main industry in Minamata Town, the Japanese nitrogen fertilizer company, and the investigators' hospital was a subsidiary of this company. This company, in Japan, is definitely the largest company in Japan. The first chairman of the Japanese nitrogen fertilizer company is said to be a relative of the Japanese royal family.
The Japanese did not want to continue the investigation because their influence in Japan was too great.
The factory's sewage is still pouring like a rain of water, and as the number of patients increases, the residents of Minamata Town will certainly not sit still.
In November 1959, 1,000 fishermen stormed the factory, and 250 police officers broke out into the "Fishermen's Riot," which the Japanese knew was caused by Minamata disease, and researchers at Kumamoto University had been conducting the investigation, and they concluded that methylmercury poisoning caused the disease.
In 1968, the Japanese people could not stand it any longer and began to demonstrate in the streets, under great pressure, and finally, the Japanese government made a request to compensate the victims and let them stop discharging sewage.
They worked with the Japanese government to conduct a rigorous assessment of Minamata disease, and if they want to pay compensation, they must have evidence.
Not all patients can get medical certificates, more than a decade later, most of the patients have disappeared from the symptoms of poisoning but there are sequelae, these patients have no compensation.
Patients diagnosed with Minamata disease will receive a one-time compensation of 16 million to 18 million yen from nitrogen fertilizer companies, equivalent to 60,000 to 70,000 US dollars in 1973, and about 17,000 people in Japan suffer from Minamata disease.
They sue every year just to get a fair verdict.
However, in order to protect commercial interests, the Japanese government has repeatedly ignored people's lives.
They eventually won a joint lawsuit in 2004, but Minamata disease did not cause Japan to think deeply.
In solving the problem of nuclear sewage, the Japanese government has put the people of the world to death.