Photo/Illutration Plaintiffs head for the Niigata District Court on April 18. (Jin Nishioka)

NIIGATA—The Niigata District Court on April 18 ruled that 26 of 47 plaintiffs had Minamata disease and ordered chemical company Showa Denko KK, now Resonac Holdings Corp., to pay approximately 100 million yen ($648,000) in compensation to them.

The plaintiffs had claimed that they were illegally denied relief under a 2009 special measures law.

However, the court dismissed their claim against the central government.

Similar lawsuits have been filed at four district courts nationwide. The latest ruling marked the third among these. 

In September 2023, the Osaka District Court ruled that all of the plaintiffs had Minamata disease and ordered the central government and others to pay compensation.

In March this year, the Kumamoto District Court ruled that some of the plaintiffs had the pollution-based disease caused by methylmercury. However, it dismissed their compensation claims on the grounds that the 20-year statute of limitations to file for damages had expired. 

The decision of the Niigata District Court was the focus of much attention amid the divergent judgments.

The 47 people who sued Showa Denko and the central government were either excluded from the special measures law, which provides a lump-sum payment of 2.1 million yen and medical expenses to those with certain symptoms, or were unable to apply for such relief.

The plaintiffs claimed that their illnesses were caused by eating fish from the Aganogawa river basin in Niigata Prefecture, when the Kanose plant of Showa Denko discharged wastewater containing methylmercury.

People who ate contaminated fish and shellfish experienced symptoms such as numbness in their hands and feet, sensory disturbance and loss of motor function.

They said that their affliction was recognized as Minamata disease and claimed that the central government was responsible for failing to exercise its regulatory authority and sought 8.8 million yen per plaintiff in compensation.

The defendants argued that the plaintiffs had not ingested enough mercury to develop Minamata disease, and that the mere diagnosis of the disease by a private physician did not constitute a finding.

The defendants also said that they were not responsible for failing to exercise their regulatory authority, either. They argued that the right to claim compensation expires 20 years from the date of the tortious act and that the lawsuit was filed too late and requested that the claim be dismissed.

In May 1965, Niigata Minamata disease was officially confirmed.

As of the end of March this year, 716 people had been certified under the Pollution-Related Health Damage Compensation Law, which took effect in 1974.

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