Minamata disease compensation agreements of 1959
The Minamata disease compensation agreements of 1959 were agreed between the polluting Chisso company and representative groups of fishermen and Minamata disease patients who had been affected by mercury pollution. The agreements and their formation shared a number of common characteristics. They were formulated outside the legal system, by ad-hoc mediation committees specially established for the purpose. Members of the committees and the final agreements were weighted in favour of Chisso and all included punitive clauses that the groups could make no future claims for compensation against the company.
Compensation of fishermen
Ever since 1908 when Chisso opened the factory in Minamata wastewater had been dumped into the seas around Minamata, particularly into
The Minamata Fishing Cooperative
By the time of the outbreak of Minamata disease the fishing situation had become critical. From 1953 to 1957 the fish catch in Minamata had declined by a staggering 91%.
Despite the ban on the sale of contaminated fish, there was still widespread suspicion amongst local people that fish caught in the Minamata area was unsafe and by June 1959 several fish shops had gone out of business from plummeting demand. Desperate, and with no assistance from government, the cooperative was forced into direct negotiations with the company. On 6 August 400 members of the cooperative marched on the factory and in a hostile atmosphere met with factory manager
Fishermen from the cooperative again forced their way into the factory on 12 August to continue negotiations. No agreement could be reached but the two sides did manage to agree to a joint inspection of fishing conditions in Minamata Bay, followed by further talks on 17 August. After this inspection Chisso admitted that fishing was impossible in some areas and made a final offer of
The Kumamoto Prefectural Alliance of Fishing Cooperatives
To the company's disappointment, this first agreement did not bring an end to problems with fishermen. Since Chisso had switched the wastewater output from Minamata Bay to the mouth of Minamata River in September 1958 the environmental damage had spread even further up and down the
Unsatisfied, Murakami and followers travelled to Tokyo and met with officials of numerous government departments to outline their plight. He managed to secure a promise from members of the
Emboldened after their demonstration at the hospital, the alliance fishermen marched on the factory to again demand negotiations. The company refused and the fishermen forced their way in and rioted, attacking many buildings and significantly damaging company property. Riot police arrived and serious fighting continued sporadically for the rest of the day until the fishermen dispersed around 9 pm. Injuries included 30-40 fishermen, two company employees, factory manager Nishida himself, 64 policemen and the chief of police. Damages to company property amounted to
A mediation committee headed by
Compensation of victims
In 1959, the victims of Minamata disease and their families were in a much weaker position than the fisherman who had extracted at least some "sympathy money" from Chisso. The only patients' organisation present at the time of the fishermen's agreements was the Minamata Disease Patients Families Mutual Aid Society, which had only been established in August 1957. They were much fewer in number (in November 1959 the society only represented the 58 families of 78 patients) and the membership of the society was more divided than the relatively united fishermen. One factor driving the division of the patients was the discrimination and ostracism some families were experiencing in the Minamata community. Local people, who were naturally averse to uncleanliness and disease, felt that the company (and their city that depended upon it) was facing economic ruin under the pressure of the various groups making demands of it. Even fishermen, who were fellow victims of the company's pollution, discriminated against disease victims because they were stoking fears that prevented the sale of their fish. To some patients this ostracism from the community represented a greater fear than the disease itself.
In a similar fashion to the fishermen's associations, the Mutual Aid Society began by petitioning the city and prefectural governments and visited
Around 50 members of the society travelled to Kumamoto on 1 December and made a request to Governor
The mediation committee reconvened on 25 December and agreed to increase the child payments to
Notes
References
- George, Timothy S. (2001). Minamata: Pollution and the Struggle for Democracy in Postwar Japan. Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 0-674-00785-9
- Ui, Jun. (1992). Industrial Pollution in Japan. United Nations University Press. ISBN 92-808-0548-7