Minamatadisease: Tens of thousands of Japanese lives are not as good as death, newborn babies are paralyzed and blind

The dancing cats jumped into the sea and committed suicide. The adult’s height “shrunk” to 1 meter, and the pregnant woman gave birth to a deformed child with paralysis and mental retardation.

These horrible scenes that can be called the doomsday come from the last century

Minamata City is a coastal town in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Before the disaster struck, it had a bay that was as beautiful as a girl’s eyes, and there were also endless natural materials for fish and shrimp to enjoy.

Minamata City, Japan

But after the 1950s, everything changed.

First, shoals of fish and shrimps surfaced and were caught.

Excited fishermen thought it was a good omen for a bumper harvest, and they frantically cast nets and fished wildly.

For a time, the market was full of fresh seafood.

However, who could have imagined that these delicious seafood are not the fishermen’s money printing machine, nor the delicacy on the table, but a signal that brings a nightmare.

Before long, the vibrant ocean turned into hell.

The fish, shrimp and shellfish in the sea began to die in large numbers, and the seabirds in the sky fell off while flying. The whole bay was gradually filled with unpleasant rancid smell.

Like the domino effect, domestic cats raised by fishermen are also sickened.

They walked staggeringly like drunks, and often fell down. Some cats will suddenly run wild and bark.

Perhaps because they couldn’t bear the pain, more and more mad cats jumped into the sea and committed suicide.

Twitching and trembling cat

At that time, people did not realize the seriousness of the problem, thinking it was a disease spread in cats.

However, the nightmare did not stop there. Soon, strange diseases appeared in humans.

In 1956, a 5-year-old girl, Shizuko Tanaka, became the first human patient to be discovered.

She barked uncontrollably, like those cats that became ill, unable to walk normally, and had difficulty even opening her mouth to eat.

In the later stages, she even experienced symptoms of blindness. In just one month, the poor girl died of illness.

After the death of Shizuko Tanaka, the entire Minamata City was cursed, and more and more residents showed the same symptoms.

They walked convulsively like zombies. The originally healthy body, like a machine being scrapped, gradually became blind, deaf, and paralyzed.

In the screams of screams, the fresh lives turned into nothingness.

Painful Minamatadisease patient

At this time, people realized that this terrible disease is not just for animals. Since no clear cause can be found, people can only name it “Minamatadisease” based on where it was first discovered.

For this sudden collective disease. A large number of scientific researchers formed several research teams to focus on investigating the cause of the outbreak.

At the beginning, most researchers thought that Minamatadisease was an infectious disease, but because they could not find a clear source and channel of infection, this claim was overturned.

In 1957, the Health Science Research Group observed the living habits of patients and found that most of the affected residents eat fish, shrimps and shellfish in the sea as their staple food.

So they inferred that food poisoning caused Minamatadisease.

In order to verify this statement, the researchers inspected the seawater quality and marine life in Minamata City and found that many metals seriously exceeded the standard.

It is thus determined that Minamatadisease is a symptom caused by a certain heavy metal poisoning.

From now on, most people have pointed the finger at the local industry giant Chisso Corporation.

After all, as a huge industrial company, it is most likely to create a source of pollution.

Polluting Chisso Factory-From the movie “Minamata”

However, before the people raised doubts, Chisso Corporation quickly moved industrial wastewater discharge locations.

And this strategy of stealing the ears and stealing the bell, on the contrary, self-defeatingly transferred Minamatadisease to other fishing villages.

There are indications that Minamatadisease is inseparable from this company.

In 1959, the research group of Kumamoto University School of Medicine issued a formal research report.

They believe that the industrial waste water discharged by Chisso Corporation into rivers and seas caused organic mercury pollution.

Marine life, domestic cats, and humans are passed through the layers of the food chain, causing organic mercury poisoning.

Minamatadisease is a nervous system disease caused by severe mercury poisoning. Numbness of hands and feet, paralysis, deafness, and mental confusion are all symptoms of the disease.

Famous Minamatadisease photography: “Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath”

Due to the age, I did not find the specific documents of this report. But I found in other data that in the liver, kidney, brain and other organs of the Minamamatadisease deceased,

The mercury content is 20.0-70.5 mg, 22.6-144.0 mg and 2.6-24.8 mg, respectively, which are 99 times, 15 times and 17 times that of normal people.

Such a content has already exceeded the safety standard that the human body can withstand, and death is an inevitable result.

With such conclusive evidence, Chisso Corporation categorically denied its guilt.

Many experts also speak for Chisso Corporation with no conscience. They think that many companies in Japan treat industrial wastewater like Chisso. Why are other Japanese people okay, but the residents of Minamata City get sick?

Maybe they are selling miserable money?

President Zhisuo who resolutely denies-from the movie “Minamata”

Under the interference of capital operation and certain political forces, several research groups that had worked so hard to find out the truth were forced to disband in November of the same year.

However, the residents of Minamata City who knew the truth refused to let it go!

They protested spontaneously, demanding that Chisso Corporation purify wastewater and compensate victims who have become ill.

Residents of Minamata City demonstrating to Chisso Corporation

Under the pressure of public opinion, Chisso Corporation reluctantly granted “comfort money” to a small number of victims and added water purification equipment.

In order to prove that the wastewater is harmless, the company president also drank a glass of industrial wastewater that was said to have been thoroughly purified.

A poster promoting the harmlessness of wastewater-from the movie “Minamata”

However, this so-called water purification equipment is just another lie of the Japanese capitalists.

In fact, organic mercury in industrial wastewater has not been completely eliminated, and it can still endanger human health.

After that, Chisso Corporation continued to discharge hazardous waste water to Minamata City for more than ten years, and the tragedies caused by this are still unfolding.

The height of normal adults is shortened to 1 meter due to the side effects of Minamatadisease. Babies suffer from congenital Minamatadisease because they bear too much mercury in the mother’s body. They are deaf and paralyzed at birth.

More and more people are lying in hospital beds and convulsing and shaking.

Infants with congenital Minamatadisease

The Kumamoto prefectural government and the entire Japanese nation seem to be covering up Chisso Corporation’s evil deeds and not taking any reasonable punishments.

As one of Japan’s four major consortia, Chisso Corporation played a vital role in the recovery of the Japanese economy after World War II.

For the sake of more and more money, in order to achieve a Showa era with a lot of money, what is the life of thousands of people in a small town?

Perhaps it was because God couldn’t bear to see such a bitter scene, the residents of Minamata City finally ushered in a glimmer of hope.

Due to the frequent outbreaks of environmental problems in Japan in the 1950s and 1960s, the media quickly paid attention to the long-forgotten Minamatadisease incident.

Under the pressure of public opinion, the Japanese government made clear the guilt of Chisso Corporation around 1968, and finally stopped the discharge of industrial waste water that has harmed Minamata City for many years.

However, this method of remedying the situation has not been recognized by the public.

Since 1969, the victims have been suing the companies and governments involved, demanding that they be responsible for the victims and the polluted environment.

With their efforts, the former president of the company and relevant senior government officials were convicted of liability issues, and the environment of Minamata City has gradually returned to life after more than ten years of governance.

So, does the tragedy really end there?

You must know that Minamatadisease cannot be completely cured. Many patients still lack the ability to work and take care of themselves, and can only rely on medication and family care to make ends meet.

Minamatadisease patients who cannot take care of themselves

Until now, there are still more than 10,000 patients who have not received compensation.

For them, the road to rights protection is still very long, and the pain caused by disease has always tortured their minds and bodies.

As they grow older and their savings deplete, the rest of their lives will only get harder and harder.

Family members of victims who are struggling to defend their rights

On the other hand, Japan, even if a big mistake has been made, even if so many people’s lives have been ruined, it is still repeating the same mistakes…

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