Japan’s court recognizes more victims of Minamata mercury poisoning and awards them compensation

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court has ordered the central government, the Kumamoto prefecture and a chemical company to recognize more than 120 plaintiffs as patients of the decades-old Minamata mercury poisoning and pay compensation they have been denied because they developed symptoms after moving away from the region. The Osaka District Court on Wednesday recognized all 128 plaintiffs as Minamata disease victims and ordered the government, Kumamoto and Chisso Corp., which is held responsible for the pollution, to pay 2.75 million yen, or $18,400, each. Minamata disease, first diagnosed in 1956, was later linked to the consumption of seafood from the Minamata Bay on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu, where Chisso dumped mercury compounds.