Original subtitles

Izumi City, Kagoshima, summer of 1970 Southern limit of affected area

Father reckoned he had got the disease and should go to the Minamata hospital.

Who was that director of the health center then? He was a decent man.

Specialists came here

from Izumi and Minamata.

They all examined father here at home

and they were absolutely sure it was Minamata disease.

They were positive.

When they told him, he got into a terrible temper about it.

The old man was like that.

Public opinion in Izumi is terrible.

Several people died without admitting to having the disease

for fear of public opinion.

Patient No. 82, Tsurumatsu Kama

People said "Don't take the sick to Minamata to be examined

"because if they've got the disease it will reflect badly on Izumi.

"If news gets around

"that the disease is here.

"Izumi will suffer,

"the fish traders will go out of business,

"and so will the fishermen."

People even said the town should look after my father, to hush it up.

MINAMATA The Victims and Their World

The island of Kyushu, southern Japan

Towns most affected by the disease grouped around Minamata

The recollection of the leader of the 1959 fishermen's demonstration:

In these parts, in Sashiki River and Yunoura River

around the summer of 1958,

mullet, sea bream, big fish like that

would just paddle around as though they were drunk.

They just drifted

on the ebb and flow of the tide.

At that time no one knew the fish were ill,

no one knew the fish had Minamata disease.

They were an easy catch

and people were happy to eat them.

Minamata Bay was full of fish

right across to the distant islands;

they floated on the surface

several tons of fish a day.

We thought something was wrong.

On November 2nd some major politicians came to investigate.

We wanted to see them

to explain our plight

and present a petition from all the fishermen.

We wanted Chisso to listen to our demands at once, too.

So we held a rally of nearly four thousand people, I think,

Masami Takezaki

because almost everyone came.

It wasn't only the fishermen, it was their wives, too,

and the old people.

We all knew the cruel disease

and we thought it should be...

Well, we all felt the pain of it.

We saw the sufferers; some were at the rally.

We began the demonstration: a march to the station.

We were going to disband there,

but the demonstrators wouldn't listen to us any more.

They rushed the gates of the Chisso Company and broke in.

The young ones left the demonstration

and rushed inside like an avalanche.

The situation was out of control.

They clashed with the police

and over six hundred fishermen were injured.

The factory gate was destroyed and the offices were wrecked.

We felt that we couldn't make a living

unless Chisso's plant was totally destroyed.

But of course we couldn't touch everything.

There was high voltage electricity, gas storage.

There was a danger we'd blow up the whole city of Minamata.

Well, luckily, we didn't touch those things.

We'd have crushed the company, but for that.

We really wanted to crush it.

Then the trade unions in Minamata held a rally,

a defensive rally against us!

"Stop the fishermen rioting," they said.

They were our enemy at that time.

It is so frightening we mustn't let such things happen again.

Patient No. 52 Mayumi Sakamoto, age 3 It is so frightening we mustn't let such things happen again.

It is so frightening we mustn't let such things happen again.

Patient No. 2 Tokie Miyake, housewife

Patient No. 2 Tokie Miyake, housewife So many people have died of Minamata disease.

So many people have died of Minamata disease.

It's just a name to some.

Patient No. 70 Sueyoshi Nakamura, farmer It's just a name to some.

Patient No. 70 Sueyoshi Nakamura, farmer

It's nothing to those who have no contact with the suffering.

Patient No. 25 Tatsujiro Nagashima, Chisso employee It's nothing to those who have no contact with the suffering.

Families without a Minamata disease patient don't know what it's like.

Patient No. 13 Tatsuo Araki, watch salesman Families without a Minamata disease patient don't know what it's like.

Filmed by Prof. Tokuomi, University of Kumamoto School of Medicine

He became like a madman, he couldn't understand anything.

I could do nothing but watch him groaning and struggling.

Patient No. 84 Sakae Hiraki, fisherman I could do nothing but watch him groaning and struggling.

Patient No. 84 Sakae Hiraki, fisherman The bandages had to be changed every day,

The bandages had to be changed every day,

but he struggled like a madman all the time.

He wouldn't keep still long enough for me to change the bandages.

Did he shout?

He would shout and moan at night; he'd lost the power of speech.

What can one woman do when such a big man goes mad?

Nothing was so pitiful as my husband; his body just rotted away.

All the skin on his back peeled off.

The skin peeled off in two months.

This human skin...

This disease is really dreadful.

Just thinking about it today makes me feel faint.

Patient No. 21, Kiyoko Sakamoto

Kiyoko was always so kind to old people and children.

She was so considerate about her grandmother,

making sure that she had warm water, things like that.

Say the brain is, the size of this ash tray.

The autopsy showed that over half her brain was destroyed.

The diseased cells were round

like the suction cups on an octopus' tentacles.

They were round, and they were linked together.

There were so many that only about a quarter of the brain remained.

The good parts were white under a thin cellophane-like membrane.

That membrane was torn on the damaged parts.

The round holes looked all charred black.

The doctor said: "With so much destroyed, it's a wonder she bore it.

"Well, not that, I mean it's a wonder she survived so long.

"With that much of the brain gone,

"nine out of ten people are hopeless.

"This black, charred part has been destroyed," the doctor told me.

A human being's head is just this much

and she had only a quarter left.

In spite of being ill with Minamata disease,

Masuo went to the Ministry of Health & Welfare in Tokyo.

Deputy Minister Hashimoto was so rude to the petitioners.

Masuo broke down and wept.

"Shut up!" they said; even to Mrs. Hiyoshi.

When anyone at the back spoke up,

they were told: "Shut up! Shut up!"

I thought is this what the Ministry of Health & Welfare is all about?

Patient No. 53, Masuo Sakamoto I thought is this what the Ministry of Health & Welfare is all about?

I thought is this what the Ministry of Health & Welfare is all about?

I knew they couldn't decide policy; they weren't responsible, not anyone.

But I thought it was their job to listen, I got so downhearted.

You know, we chose fifteen committee members.

We sent them to Tokyo many times; it cost a lot of money.

The official response was always the same, so awful.

To be told to shut up and give up. I want no more of it.

I didn't want to be awarded lots of money in court.

I didn't want lots of money from a trial.

I wanted to see the state do what's right.

I didn't want a lot of money.

I wanted to see correctly,

to look deep into the state

to see where it's crooked and where it's straight.

That's what I wanted to discover through a trial.

Even if I am left all alone,

I'll even fight alone, until the last

from beginning to end because I've seen what the state is like.

If I didn't fight,

I'd be lying to myself as a human being.

As long as I am breathing, even if I'm merely a bag of bones,

I'll fight, even if I have to fight alone.

Many people in Kumamoto can't travel to Minamata,

so they've had no chance to meet the patients

and have a drink with them.

Therefore, we've invited

July 10, 1970, Kumamoto Therefore, we've invited

July 10, 1970, Kumamoto some of the patients to Kumamoto

some of the patients to Kumamoto

so that we can get to know each other.

Eizo Watanabe, representative of the patients

Keikichi Honda, Minamata Disease Accusation Committee

The Tokyo Accusation Committee had been established on June 25.

In the presence of everyone here,

we would like to present to the patients

the contributions we have received on our pilgrimage from Tokyo.

At first we expected lots of small change,

and we thought we'd change it into notes

at the end of every day.

But we were given money by so many people:

children came and gave us one yen coins,

and cleaning women gave us ten yen coins.

So we felt those coins should come here

and we didn't change them.

When I heard about Minamata disease, I was so moved.

Words came to me in my own Kyoto dialect.

I don't think of it as a poem but I've recited it in many places.

Rise!

If you say that man

is still the lord of all creation,

this cruel and venomous world must be overturned.

What is civilization?

Having killed countless living things: butterflies, dragonflies, fireflies,

clams and mud-snails, wild geese and swallows,

loaches and killifish, water beetles and lizards.

The patients of Minamata disease

do you know of them?

Have you heard of the children born with Minamata disease?

Heads that loll, eyes that can't see, ears that can't hear,

mouths that can't speak or taste,

hands that can't grasp, legs that won't walk.

You make people bear such babies.

You make the sea unfit for bacteria and you talk of rapid economic growth.

You boast of Expo '70.

What is poverty to us, eh?

Try to remember.

Tell those who don't know how we survived on sweet potato leaves.

Remember!

If you are human, rise and fight!

Fight the war against pollution!

Fight the Minamata war!

A war waged by we who hate war!

The last war of the human race!

September 3rd: Tokyo and other cities, 83,632 yen

On the 4th: Nagoya and two other cities, 151,188 yen

On the 5th we collected 88,080 yen at the Expo in spite of harassment.

It includes a one yen coin given by a small child.

She came back later and said it wasn't enough

and gave us some underwear that'd just been bought for her.

It's very nice; please accept it from her.

Join the fight! Solidarity with the Minamata patients!

The City of Minamata

The voice of a trade union leader at the Chisso factory

recorded at a union meeting:

Until now, the Minamata factory has made tremendous profit.

It's made about 40 billion yen in fourteen years.

70% of the total 5.2 billion yen invested in the plant,

was invested prior to 1960.

The company has invested a mere 348 million after 1965,

just enough to keep the plant running without development.

They've used the profits to build a new factory elsewhere.

They're going to discard Minamata like a worn-out sandal

as soon as the new plant becomes profitable.

Chisso is planning to escape from the scene of the crime,

from Minamata disease.

They'll close the factory down

just as coal mines were closed down in the past.

This is a proposal to invade the Chisso shareholders' meeting.

I had the idea when I read Mrs. Ishimure's poem:

"You drink the mercury, too

"I will drink the mercury, you drink the mercury, too."

I wanted to put those words to Chisso's executives and board.

Now, concerning the shareholders' meetings

that Chisso holds twice a year.

They have to notify all shareholders

of the date and place of meeting.

The next meeting is in November.

How much is one share?

The current price is 37 yen.

According to company regulations,

certificates are issued for 1, 10, 50, 100 and 500 shares.

So it's possible to be a one share shareholder.

A one share shareholder?

We'll go and say: "You are all finished now, Chisso!"

The Minamata Citizens' Committee

had often considered buying shares,

but no one knew what to do after that.

The most important thing is to say that over forty people have died.

Chisso has never admitted responsibility; we must make them say it.

If we can do that, shareholding will be a good idea.

Up one yen, up two yen.

I've never bought stocks before.

Fumiko Hiyoshi, a member of Minamata Citizens' Committee I've never bought stocks before.

Fumiko Hiyoshi, a member of Minamata Citizens' Committee If they go bust, I'll only lose 4,000 yen.

If they go bust, I'll only lose 4,000 yen.

We deserve some fun. Let's do it.

The more shares you have, the more you can say.

I'll buy one hundred.

Eizo Watanabe can be "managing director" of this.

Let's go to the meeting in November!

Children with congenital Minamata disease

Patient No. 107 Masaaki Higashi, born in 1955

It's dangerous for him with so many cars around.

He likes cars: he jumps at them.

You see he didn't get the disease from food he ate himself.

It was caused by the food mother ate when she was carrying him.

I'll never forget my schooldays.

I don't remember playing with my friends much.

I spent most of the time baby-sitting.

When did Masaaki start to walk?

Let's see, he started to walk a little

when he was about eight or nine.

He hardly ever gets other sicknesses.

Maybe he's happier this way. That's an extreme way of putting it,

but if we look at him and say he's pitiful, he is.

But if we don't think he's pitiful, he isn't. Right?

He's happy with many people around.

When the families split

over whether to entrust their case to the ministry or go to court,

there were also splits within each family, even ours,

although I didn't say anything about it myself.

Are the parties satisfied?

I don't think either group is really satisfied.

It may have been a kind of defeat to split over the matter.

My family belongs to the entrustment group.

That wasn't my decision; it's a defeat and a retreat.

Even now, in my opinion,

the entrustment group should support the lawsuit group

in spirit, even if they can't do so openly.

When he's not eating, he's always sleeping.

He doesn't eat too well, and when he's lying down

he seems to be saying leave me alone.

What time does he go to bed?

At night? He sleeps day and night.

What about urination?

I ask him: I say "shi-shi" and squat him on the toilet.

I have to do that because "shi-shi" also means bowel movement to him.

An octopus usually has white flesh,

so it looks like the sort of fish that Japanese like to eat raw.

But I never eat raw fish.

First I boil it; that gets rid of its natural moisture.

Then I fry it quickly, with sugar and soy sauce.

Tokiyoshi Onoue Then I fry it quickly, with sugar and soy sauce.

Then I fry it quickly, with sugar and soy sauce.

Then I can eat it.

The flesh is still very white, you see.

This size tastes the best; big ones are spongy.

It was unbearable, the pain she suffered.

Patient No. 67 Natsue Onoue She went mad, moaning like this.

Patient No. 67 Natsue Onoue

And she struggled about.

When the grandchildren came, they called her "animal."

2,000 yen, from President, Minamata Branch, Chisso Co.

If company executives are going to be that stingy,

maybe they should salve their consciences another way

and decide on one or two to be sacrificed to drink the mercury.

Because as far as life is concerned,

there's no difference between millionaires and paupers.

That's what I wanted to say.

We should fill a big keg with mercury-polluted water,

offer it to Chisso's directors at the shareholders' meeting,

and if some will drink and sacrifice themselves,

we might reconsider our case.

Would anyone drink it? We wouldn't, if we'd known.

The vital part is between the eyes,

so I bite it there.

Then I hook it onto the wire round my waist,

and let it hang there while I look for another.

If one's hiding,

you can't hook it from under a big rock.

So I put a small octopus on the hook as bait,

and the one that's hiding charges out to catch it.

Well, I lure that octopus well away from the cover of the rock,

then I let it grab at the one I'm using as bait.

Then I jerk the bait.

The octopus thinks the bait's trying to escape,

so it clings onto it with all its might.

Then I can pull it up out of the water, bite it and kill it.

Minamata City Hall

The patients petitioned for a loan of 100,000 yen until after the lawsuit.

They wanted the city, prefecture or state to loan the money.

I'm sorry, I can't allow you to make a recording of this meeting.

Masamoto Fuke, mayor of Minamata City I'm sorry, I can't allow you to make a recording of this meeting.

I'm sorry, I can't allow you to make a recording of this meeting.

The mayor told them: "I understand your difficulties.

"Why not accept reparations like the entrustment group did?

"That will overcome your difficulties without prejudice.

"and you can leave the lawsuit in the hands of your supporting groups."

Eiko Sugimoto talks about her late father:

Even when I was going to secondary school,

I used to help out whenever I had time.

Father used to point to the sea,

indicate a disturbance on the water,

and ask me if it was caused by the wind or a school of sardines.

He was always teaching me such things.

As for forecasting the weather,

I trusted him more than the meteorological reports.

Even when he was ill in bed, he watched the sea and the clouds.

Patient No. 88, Susumu Sugimoto I just had to do what he told me, so it was easy.

I just had to do what he told me, so it was easy.

I always got a better catch than the others.

But after he died,

I had trouble with the weather and the tide.

With him gone...

Well, maybe I was spoiled,

but I didn't have a care when he was around.

Preparing bait in the mullet fishing season

The main ingredients are rice bran

and silkworm chrysalises.

We use butter for the mullet,

or lard, it's the same thing.

Well, almost the same thing. We use both.

Silkworm isn't enough by itself,

so we thought the fish would like butter.

It seems they do like it, because they rush at it.

Yes, they keep on coming for the bait.

It's good stuff; delicious and full of nutrition.

I've told you some of the main ingredients,

but we put in all sorts of things.

Anyone can catch the fish once they're there.

It's attracting them that takes skill.

Everyone has their secret formula for bait.

Everyone makes delicious bait,

trying to guess what other people's secret recipes are.

It's all a secret, you see, so we put things in secretly.

When the fish come, you can't fail to catch them.

The secret's in the bait.

Sulfuric acid waste

We use many hooks on the line for catching mullet.

You can catch two or three at once.

Well, maybe not three, that's too tricky.

The fish are pretty big, you know.

We often get two fish at once, though.

But if you ever get three fish on the line,

one drops off while you're netting the other two.

It's exciting when the fish come; it is worthwhile.

We get hungry; we work all day without eating.

But it's a happy time.

This winding path leads past the big house.

When it was thought that our daughter's disease was contagious,

people wouldn't let us use this path at all.

They told us to use the other path.

Only our sisters came to see us.

Even our parents and brothers kept away.

The only shop was down the hill.

They wouldn't accept our money or give us goods directly.

They wouldn't let us go inside the shop.

We had to carry her to the hospital, and no one would let us into a car.

Patient No. 32 Kazuko Egoshita, age 5

Patient No. 32 Kazuko Egoshita, age 5 Even the hospital thought it was contagious,

Even the hospital thought it was contagious,

and so we couldn't hire a car from there, either.

So I walked back along the railway line

carrying my dead daughter on my back.

When we returned to Minamata,

Patient No. 28 Shizuko Tanaka, age 8 When we returned to Minamata,

Patient No. 28 Shizuko Tanaka, age 8 everyone was sure it was a contagious disease.

everyone was sure it was a contagious disease.

We were one of six families, the first sufferers

released from the hospital after the doctors proved it wasn't contagious.

As soon as people saw us get off the bus, they ran away and hid.

Patient No. 29 Jitsuko Tanaka, born in 1953 As soon as people saw us get off the bus, they ran away and hid.

As soon as people saw us get off the bus, they ran away and hid.

And if we went to the village shop,

they wouldn't allow us to go inside.

She's seventeen, and she's like this.

She can't eat by herself, and she wears diapers like a baby.

She can't have a bowel movement unless I give her an enema.

If only she could learn to take food in her hands and feed herself.

Just thinking about her future,

what will happen to her, I have so many worries.

She's grown taller and heavier.

When I bathe her, I give her the enema.

She won't do it if she's just lying down so I have to.

I have to give her the enema when I bathe her.

If I was away for a few days, she wouldn't do anything.

And there are...

You see, there are things I can't tell her father about.

We have the victims and their families in Minamata,

so the city should consider setting up a colony,

or a home, or some kind of special facility

so the victims can be cared for when their parents die.

Patient No. 99 Shinobu Sakamoto, born in 1956 so the victims can be cared for when their parents die.

Patient No. 99 Shinobu Sakamoto, born in 1956 I think that a colony or a home

where the children can live without any worries

is the most important thing for the future.

Patient No. 38, Takae Sakamoto

Patient No. 38, Takae Sakamoto Takae contracted the disease when she was seventeen

Takae contracted the disease when she was seventeen

and was in the hospital for a long time.

In 1966 she married a cousin and bore a child.

She was later forced out of her husband's home

because she had Minamata disease.

If you had another opportunity

would you consider marrying again?

No one would want me.

Even if I wanted to, no one would want me.

The reason I had to separate from my husband

was because I had the disease.

All his family were against us; they tore us apart.

We married because we were in love.

But they said:

"You are the wife of the eldest son

"and your disease will hinder the younger daughters' marriages."

I can't do anything, even separated. And there is the baby.

I'll look after her; I got custody of her soon after she was born.

How old is she now?

Three.

People tell me I have something to live for.

But children grow away from their parents.

But, maybe, as she's a girl,

she can see; she'll look after me.

She'll be very useful, being a girl.

If someone comes along who'll let us stay together and be happy,

I may marry again.

I'm over thirty now.

When I think of having to be alone all my life, it's really...

Her field of vision is constricted, a typical symptom of the disease.

She spends most of her time confined to the house.

A patient, ten years prior to rehabilitation

After training for the recovery of motor functions

He's asking you if you have ever thought of dying.

Yes, I did think about it.

Being a burden, I didn't want to live any more.

He means he thought he'd be a burden to us all.

I was always thinking how I could die.

I'd tell him: "You'll die some time. Don't commit suicide.

"If you do, how could I face people afterwards?

"Don't die a shameful death like that."

He thought of jumping in front of a train, or hanging himself;

tried to hang himself three times one day.

We were harvesting sweet potatoes.

He disappeared, and I found him with the rope all ready,

preparing to jump.

I took him back to the field,

but before long he disappeared and tried again.

The third time he tried it I got furious.

I hit him and hit him; I really beat him.

He never did it again after that.

It was very strange,

because he wasn't like that at all when he was well.

Hit it well; I'll field it for you.

Patient No. 16, Tomiji Matsuda Hit it well; I'll field it for you.

Patient No. 16, Tomiji Matsuda

Patient No. 16, Tomiji Matsuda Try to hit it!

Try to hit it!

Matsuda, born 1949, is totally blind. He plays "baseball" with a friend.

Fly ball!

Did you get the fly ball?

Now, try to hit a home run!

Show me a home run.

That was pretty good!

You have to want it!

Was that a home run?

It's by your foot.

Patient No. 105 Masaaki Watanabe, born in 1958

Patient No. 61 Eiichi Watanabe, born in 1952

Eiichi has no other talents, you see, only music.

So we thought that might be a career for him.

We found a music teacher to try to teach him,

but, well, it seems that's impossible.

We bought an organ, found a teacher,

but he has no future in music, so what can we do?

I thought the organ would be good exercise for his feet, at least.

I'm not very interested in music, so I don't have any high hopes.

But he has to keep pedaling, so the exercise does him good.

The Watanabe family has three grandchildren with the disease:

Matsuyo, Eiichi and Masaaki.

Masaaki is a very severe case; he is totally deaf and mute.

The grandmother was bedridden for many years.

When she died, an autopsy revealed that she had the disease.

Patient No. 112, Shizue Watanabe When she died, an autopsy revealed that she had the disease.

Patient No. 112, Shizue Watanabe

I've had ten children and grandchildren including daughters-in-law.

My wife was bedridden for ten long years.

She passed away in February last year.

In all those long years,

she never once grumbled, never complained.

She had to wear diapers all the time.

She had a saint-like patience,

no less than that of Florence Nightingale.

I've seen children with the disease

playing with healthy children,

and the parents of the normal children dragged their kids away.

They spanked them for playing, I saw it with my own eyes.

Things like that won't improve the situation.

The victims will suffer more and more.

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry.

If you cry, mountain crows will cry, too.

This stereo equipment is very expensive.

Eiichi is hard of hearing: he wanted a powerful amplifier.

The owner of an electrical shop in town brought it to him.

He said: "Pay when you can; I'd rather it was here than sitting in my shop."

Masaaki, the deaf-mute senses sound through the vibration of the speaker.

It was a gamble

whether I could make him walk

or whether it would kill him.

His head lolled, so I thought that wasn't right.

Even if his body is weak.

I didn't think his head should loll all the time.

When I tried to make him walk, he was all floppy.

Father kept on raising his head.

When his head dropped, he went floppy again,

so we kept raising his head. He didn't cry, or resist at all.

We would have stopped if he'd cried.

But since he didn't, we kept raising his head,

and after a while he raised his head

and stayed that way all by himself.

His father said: "Look, training did it after all."

Then I understood.

Before that I felt so sorry for the baby.

I didn't think he should have been forced at all.

He couldn't even crawl.

But afterwards I saw it was for the best.

He could raise and lower his head all by himself.

Did this take long?

Yes. It didn't have any effect for a long time.

It took two years and a bit to teach him to walk.

Three years, really; he started to walk when he was four.

When he took one step, two steps, I was so happy,

thinking now he's able to walk.

I was so happy I almost cried.

We felt that we'd done it at last.

The City Hospital

Wards for children with congenital Minamata disease and cerebral palsy

Patient No. 100 Yuji Onizuka, born in 1956

Today I'm teaching them to count in twos,

that is, in multiples.

We're counting two points for every skittle knocked down.

But only half the class, the cerebral palsy children, understands.

At the end of the game we add up the score,

but only half the class understands.

The other half,

well, it's a shame, but they can only watch.

Patient No. 93 Kazumitsu Hannaga, born in 1955 well, it's a shame, but they can only watch.

Patient No. 93 Kazumitsu Hannaga, born in 1955 All I can do, with the Hannaga boy for example,

is to take his hand and make him count with his fingers.

Patient No. 108 Isamu Nagai, born in 1957 is to take his hand and make him count with his fingers.

Patient No. 108 Isamu Nagai, born in 1957 Now, at last, he is at the stage

Now, at last, he is at the stage

where he can count with the five fingers of one hand.

The Minamata disease children, I'm sorry to say,

are really pitiful in every respect.

They have weak memories and poor understanding.

And on top of those mental liabilities,

their arms and legs are disabled.

The cerebral palsy children

are sometimes more physically disabled,

but their intelligence is close to normal,

unlike the Minamata disease children.

Patient No. 103 Hisae Morimoto, born in 1957

Try again, a little more. There, you've done it!

Patient No. 104 Sueko Iwasaka, born in 1957 Try again, a little more. There, you've done it!

Patient No. 104 Sueko Iwasaka, born in 1957

Does it hurt? Tell me.

Up a little more, and stretch your arms.

The opinion of the director of the rehabilitation center:

Congenital Minamata disease presents many problems.

The intellect is damaged, as well as the limbs.

Some children with cerebral palsy have severe mental disability,

but all congenital Minamata disease children

have severe mental disability.

The difference between the afflictions obviously affects rehabilitation.

We are able to rehabilitate the Minamata disease children,

but results are not immediately apparent.

There seems to be little progress,

but when one looks at the nine patients we have here,

one sees improvement over five or six years

with those who were bedridden, or couldn't raise their heads.

For example, children who couldn't sit up or stand,

have now learned how to.

Children who couldn't walk, now walk with appliances.

So they're getting better, little by little.

Of course, a characteristic of these patients

is that their degree of recovery is extremely slight,

compared to that of adult patients.

What about TV programs?

Tell him what you hate most.

What don't you like on TV?

Baseball... and wrestling.

He hates wrestling. He doesn't like sports at all.

This man is from Tokyo; you don't know Tokyo, do you?

Patient No. 116 Tatsuzumi Kosaki, born in 1959 This man is from Tokyo; you don't know Tokyo, do you?

Patient No. 116 Tatsuzumi Kosaki, born in 1959 Yes, I do. May I ask him something?

Yes, I do. May I ask him something?

I would like to know what TV programs you have in Tokyo.

The same sort of programs you see here.

You know, the people I hate most

are the ones who think in their hearts.

I really hate those people.

He means people who say he's ill behind his back.

Tell me about Tokyo.

Well, the sea's dirty there.

Yes, I know.

The sea is littered with floating rubbish.

Little by little...

we'll have a sea like that everywhere.

All the seas, even away from the towns and cities.

You are really clever and aware! I mean that.

Thank you.

Does he often talk to you?

Yes, I understand him well.

I look after him, change his diapers.

I'm never bored with him; we talk about things all day.

He often has very good ideas on what I should prepare for dinner.

He often has bad ideas, too.

We have to watch him.

He'll gobble up any cakes left lying around.

Without this disease he'd have been a normal child.

Perhaps he would have been too bright to have been a fisherman.

Still, it can't be helped, can it?

♪ The sea is so vast

♪ I'd like to go in a ship, I want to sail in one

Tell the man how it was you got this way.

My mother ate fish... and Minamata disease

...the company...

because they poured poison...

...mother ate it

so I got like this.

- Who told you that? - The chairman (of the entrustment group)

He did, did he? Is the story true?

It's true... probably.

What if you don't get better when you grow up? What then?

No more, no more...

Good-bye.

The children wanted to lock the door.

You didn't want the film people, did you?

This is like some sort of celebration, it's so noisy.

Patient No. 97 Tomoko Kamimura, born in 1956

All the other children are really healthy.

It's great when we hold Tomoko,

and we can all eat together like this.

I'm just so happy. I can't think of anything else.

The hospital offered to care for her, but my husband objected.

I thought perhaps she might stay there for a month or so,

and I'd use the time to do some gardening for market,

but my husband always said he would never allow it.

Well, even if we did let our Tomoko go to the hospital,

you see, she seems to know her own family,

she seems to recognize other familiar people, too.

So if she wasn't with her parents, she'd cry.

And we wouldn't be able to sleep for worrying about her.

That's what he said, so we've never put her in the hospital.

You all seem very cheerful.

Well, I always chatter in a very loud voice.

Everyone says I don't sound like the mother of so many children.

She's the oldest child and the smallest.

So we, as her parents, care for her the most.

That's what people mean when they say a child is a treasure.

People are like that.

The first born is really a treasure to them, isn't it?

That child especially seems to demand a mother's love.

That's why people say a child is a treasure.

I don't feed her solid foods.

I'm afraid that solid foods will upset her stomach.

You must have worried about your second child.

Not at all: the second child was born the following year.

At that time we weren't at all sure that Tomoko had the disease.

She was growing quite normally at the time.

We have pictures of her, looking quite big and normal.

Tomoko has six younger brothers and sisters.

Her father drives a truck for a Chisso sub-contractor.

His pay is about half that of a driver on Chisso's payroll.

I'll tell you my wage: 1200 yen, a day.

Work from morning till night.

Only 30,000 a month.

30,000 yen isn't enough.

It's not enough,

so I work an extra job.

We need more than average money.

I work three times as long as the average person to get it.

She's in a good mood when she's like this.

She's always happy when she sees someone she knows.

Even if she's crying, she becomes happy then.

She likes seeing another patient who lives down the road.

She can't speak, but she seems to understand some things I say.

If she couldn't understand my words, she wouldn't smile.

I don't think she understands what I'm saying now, difficult things,

but she seems to understand everyday words.

Kumamoto Courthouse, October 16, 1970

This is Tatsuzo Miyauchi, Hifue's father.

Susumu Sugimoto died in August last year.

His widow is also a victim of the disease.

She looks quite healthy

but she has difficulty with muscular coordination.

Washing-up, for example, is difficult for her.

All her crockery is chipped and cracked.

I wear this sash so that our supporters will know me.

Everyone will know I'm a victim; I won't take the sash off.

The victims won't abandon their rights!

We'll force the company to accept its responsibility!

We supporters will fight together with the afflicted families!

The Minamata disease sufferers are hard of hearing.

Please speak up loudly.

Doctor Hosokawa has just died on October 13.

He held an important position at the time in question,

being director of the hospital attached to the Minamata factory.

Yet he courageously exposed the truth.

In October 1959, he conducted experiments with cats.

Cat No. 400 ate food sprinkled with waste from the factory

and contracted the disease.

Chisso lawyer Toshio Muramatsu, former Supreme Court judge

Yoshimitsu Tanaka, former Buddhist priest and father of a Minamata victim,

leads practice of the Buddhist Pilgrim Hymn

dedicated to the victims of Minamata disease.

You're really good!

We're not very good.

Patient No. 34, Masu Egoshita

This is the hardest part, it takes a long time to master it.

A human being is born into the world saying "Ah,"

and says "Ah" at the moment of returning to dust.

Chisso share certificates registered in the names of the victims

Shot by Kumamoto University Medical School Minamata Lab

Fumio and Tsugunori Hamamoto talk about their parents:

Patient 58 Matsu Hamamoto Patient 49 Sohachi Hamamoto

Patient 58 Matsu Hamamoto Patient 49 Sohachi Hamamoto When we lost both parents so suddenly, we were plunged into darkness.

The Chisso company is so hateful.

Survivor, Fumiyo Hamamoto The Chisso company is so hateful.

Survivor, Fumiyo Hamamoto When I go to Osaka to participate in the one-share movement,

When I go to Osaka to participate in the one-share movement,

I'll tell Chisso's president, Egashira, that I'm buying his life.

I'll say something. I'll go raving mad when I get there.

Tsugunori Hamamoto

I always walked by the railway line, down to the sea.

Every day I walked the same path, carrying fish bait.

Then one day I stumbled over a railroad tie.

I thought it was funny; I wasn't carrying more than usual.

Still, I kept on walking.

Then, down on the shore, I stumbled over a rock.

I don't know what's come over me, I thought.

I'd noticed the numbness in my hands before,

but after stumbling I realized that I had some strange disease.

Let's see...

I was working until November 1958,

but I was always in and out of the hospital.

The pain got worse every year, each year worse than the last,

the next year worse than the one before.

I'm getting worse all the time.

My father used to tell me that I was a weakling.

"Your body's weak," he said,

"that's why you've got such a disease."

But one morning I woke father up, and he'd gone out of his mind.

He just sat with his legs crossed, staring round the room.

I couldn't make it out at first.

He asked what time it was, but he could hardly speak.

He could hardly hear, and he swayed when he walked, like I do now.

I was shocked, thinking he'd got the strange disease, too.

Then, after about ten days or so,

my brother brought my mother here; she was ill, too.

I thought: oh no, this time it's my mother,

and we cried and cried, my brother and I.

Look at my body.

I will have this pollution-caused disease for ever.

I have been living a miserable life

and I have come to Kagoshima to ask for contributions.

We believe everyone should be aware of this kind of pollution.

We've come here to show you the horrors of pollution,

not just Minamata disease,

but the horrors of pollution.

The victims of Minamata disease are fighting in court.

Please contribute towards the cost of the legal action.

Let everyone fight pollution, so that all can enjoy future "Flower Festivals."

We are fighting an enterprise—which has made my body like this

and which is taking human lives—

in order to prevent the company from emitting more poison.

The cry against environmental pollution is heard throughout Japan

in the press, television, all media.

It's easy to talk about pollution,

but it's actually a frightening disease.

I live a painful life every day, fighting my illness.

So I have come to Kagoshima to ask for contributions.

We believe that every citizen should know about this pollution.

We came here to show you its horrors,

not just Minamata disease

but the horrors of pollution.

Chisso Company Limited

We are fighting an enterprise—which has made my body like this,

which is taking human lives—

in order to prevent the company from emitting more poison.

The cry against environmental pollution is heard throughout Japan

in the press, television, all media.

It's easy to talk about pollution but it's actually a frightening disease.

There are many unacknowledged victims, aren't there?

Yes, I often see the symptoms when I visit patients.

Even a layman can see their symptoms,

but they still haven't applied for official recognition.

It takes awhile to realize that they've been licking their lips constantly,

or their shoes don't stay on like they used to.

This village is so remote that even the people of Minamata rarely visit it.

Kawamoto, himself an unacknowledged victim,

visits these remote settlements in search of unknown victims.

The City Hospital diagnosed it as cerebral palsy?

Applicant No. 25 Takako Isayama, born in 1961 The City Hospital diagnosed it as cerebral palsy?

Applicant No. 25 Takako Isayama, born in 1961 Yes, at the orthopedic surgery department.

Yes, at the orthopedic surgery department.

Not the pediatric department?

I thought her legs were strange

when she was a baby.

I told the doctor.

You like sweet, soft things, don't you, Takako?

Nice, isn't it? Eat a little at a time.

I see you can eat fast when it comes to sweet things.

I've seen many children with Minamata disease,

but this girl has stunned me. We're all responsible for neglecting her.

They went to the Matsumoto Hospital in Tsunagi,

and the doctors at first diagnosed it as cerebral palsy.

She was born in 1961 when Minamata disease was considered over.

That was the general opinion in Minamata.

So there was a tendency to discount Minamata disease in her case.

Why hasn't her case been acknowledged?

Kumamoto University says the disease began in 1953 and ended in 1960.

The Isayama child was born in July 1961,

so her birthday falls outside the admitted period.

That's the only explanation I can think of.

So you thought something was wrong soon after her birth.

What made you think that?

Well, from the beginning her head was limp and wobbly.

When did you suspect that she might have Minamata disease?

Did you ever suspect that at any time?

Someone who'd been in the hospital

told me it looked similar to Minamata disease.

This person had been in the bed next to a Minamata disease patient.

So they'd seen it.

If, at the end of December,

you're told it's not Minamata disease,

will you apply for further opinion?

Well, I don't know

after having had two examinations.

Some people had three, four, five examinations

before their disease was admitted to be Minamata.

There's no reason why you should give up so easily.

If you don't demand to know, they won't tell you nowadays.

Or is it that you're worried about what the neighbors may say.

Well, demanding seems a bit forward to me.

How can you say that? That's not the attitude to take for your child.

There's nothing forward in submitting this application form.

Now, in what year were you married?

Many patients are unable to remember incidents in their past.

They can't remember their children's birthday,

or even their own,

so the impairment of memory is a very significant factor.

There's really a need for a thorough examination.

November 25, 1970. The victims set out for the shareholders' meeting in Osaka.

Hiroshima

I wonder what kind of typhoon is waiting for us.

Well, come hail or storm!

I'm afraid of a storm of riot police.

They say the meeting could be over in eight minutes.

They'll pull down all the shutters

and keep out reporters and photographers.

Osaka Station

Please welcome the patients from Minamata.

I don't know if we will see you all again tomorrow

at the Chisso shareholders' meeting,

but with your support we'll keep up the fight forever.

My heart is so full.

You've given us a wonderful reception,

so many people here to welcome us at the station.

We were very hesitant about bringing our patients,

but now I'm glad we did.

Just this meeting, between them and all you supporters,

that's enough to make the journey worthwhile.

We're just country folk from a poor place called Minamata.

For the first time, we really feel the warmth you have in your hearts for us.

I feel something welling up from deep inside me,

and the face of every one of you

seems like a thousand faces to my eyes.

We have arrived in the land where the blue and red ogres dwell.

You're Mr. Kawamura, aren't you?

- I bear my late father's resentment. - Does Chisso admit responsibility?

Answer me!

The president of the company will answer your questions tomorrow.

We won't be tricked any longer.

The president will answer tomorrow. That has been decided.

November 28, 1970, 9 a.m.

I think that everyone in Japan is watching today.

I come with all the resentment of more than ten years of suffering,

and the resentment of my parents and all sufferers,

to confront the president of the company.

How is your health?

I get worse year by year; it's unbearable.

I'm afraid that I won't be able to move in another three years.

What about your family?

Both my parents died of the disease and I'm like this.

We don't know if they'll agree to let the patients speak.

We'll demand it,

but first let us join in prayer.

Hymn for the Dead

People think this world lasts forever

A never-ending spring

But if even then you let yourself

Be saved by the Buddha

You will never suffer

And will enjoy eternal peace

I am Yutaka Egashira, the president of this company.

Let the Minamata disease patients speak!

Let them speak before anything else!

Let them speak,

or else this meeting of Chisso will not take place!

Let them voice their seventeen- year-old resentment!

Return the dead to life again!

The leader of the one-share movement

The emergency resolution!

I will ask the president to let you speak.

Chisso employed me to be here, I promise to listen to you.

This meeting will be invalidated if the riot police have to be called in.

I would like to explain our company's views on this matter.

First of all,

I would like to answer the question

why doesn't Chisso admit responsibility for the disease?

Concerning the Minamata disease,

we feel much sympathy for all the patients.

Return the forty-five dead to life!

You're a parent, too! Do you understand?

I lost both my parents!

Words don't make any difference, I lost both my parents!

You prayed at my family altar, remember?

Coming to the Buddhist altar isn't enough!

You smiled just now!

I'm not saying anything to smile at!

Both parents... all a child wants are its parents!

Yes, and parents want their children!

Old people, too, not just me!

I'm Hamamoto from Dezuki, Hamamoto!

Understand, can't you understand my feelings?

How much do you think I've suffered? I can't put it in words!

You can't buy lives with money!

My parents. And my brother's a cripple, people laugh at him!

All this becomes an empty dream

Weeping, we offer our hearts to the deceased

How sad it is to remember the departed

Yet they will be saved by Lord Buddha