By KENJI IMAMURA/ Staff Writer
May 2, 2023 at 19:04 JST
MINAMATA, Kumamoto Prefecture--An annual memorial ceremony for Minamata disease victims here helped bridge a divide among sufferers of mercury poisoning between those who were officially recognized and those who were not.
A copper plate dedicated at a cenotaph since 1996 carried the names of only those recognized as Minamata disease patients based on government standards who died over the past year if consent was given by bereaved family members.
This year, the plate was not inscribed with any names for the first time to equally console the souls of those who suffered the same symptoms but were never officially recognized as Minamata disease patients.
It instead offered a prayer for the repose of the souls of all the people who lost their lives as victims of the disease caused by industrial wastewater containing methylmercury discharged into the sea off Minamata.
About 620 people, including Minamata disease victims and bereaved family members, attended the memorial ceremony here on May 1 to mark the day when the disease, one of Japan’s first cases of industrial pollution, was officially confirmed 67 years ago.
The participants included Environment Minister Akihiro Nishimura, Kumamoto Governor Ikuo Kabashima and Ryuichi Koba, president of Chisso Corp., the chemical manufacturer whose plant released the tainted wastewater.
The ceremony was called off in 2020 and 2021 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Only 17 people attended last year.
While 32,901 people applied for recognition as Minamata disease patients, only 2,284 were recognized as such as of April 30. Of those, 2,038 have died.
The anonymous plate was a compromise to broadly console the souls of victims of the mercury poisoning regardless of whether they were recognized as Minamata disease patients.
Still, some victims are calling for inscribing the names of all the deceased, including those who were not recognized as Minamata disease patients.
Nishimura met with representatives of organizations of Minamata disease victims after the memorial ceremony on May 1.
The minister was noncommittal on carrying out health surveys of local residents that these organizations have been calling for to provide broader relief.
Nishimura only said that he hopes to set up a panel of experts as early as this summer to study methods required for the surveys prescribed by a special measures law that took effect in 2009.
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Akito Tsukada, an elementary school sixth-grader, gives a speech at the memorial ceremony for Minamata disease victims in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, on May 1. (Kengo Hiyoshi)
