> .. at the end of 1959, #Chisso’s president publicly drank a glass of water from the Cyclator, without announcing that the wastewater from the #acetaldehyde plant, which contained mercury, was not being run through the #Cyclator. An eerily similar performance took place on March 24, 2011 when #TokyoGovernor #IshiharaShintarō drank a glass of tap water on national television to “prove” that it was safe from #RadioactiveContamination.
https://apjjf.org/2012/10/11/Timothy-S.-George/3715/article.html
#TimothyGeorge #MinamataDisease

One of the questions was about rumors that the victimized area was home to people who do not work. #MinamataDisease symptoms were (are?) explained away as alcoholism in MInamata (and a Native American Reservation in Canada too!). In the documentary #Crude #Chevron's lawyer blames death and disease on hygiene. In #Toroku the loss of honey bees and other farm produce was blamed on technique. As if people hadn't been successful there for generations before industry. Another common strategy...

One of the prizes awarded to #MinamataStory #AnEcoTragedy about #Minamata and #MinamataDisease
> Freeman Book Awards
> Honoring East And Southeast Asian Titles for Children and Young Adults
...
> Set in Japan
The Minamata Story
By #SeanMichaelWilson, Illustrated by #AkikoShimojima (#StoneBridgePress)
https://www.nctasia.org/awards

".. from the point of view of a student who takes up the topic of #MinamataDisease for a high school writing assignment.. he finds out that his grandmother is from the area,...
In most cases, my books are about people from further back in history or far-off places.
The key difference.. is that many of the people in this book are still alive...in the same areas as I live in..I could engage in some direct..research"
https://japan-forward.com/new-manga-brings-attention-to-ecotragedy-of-minamata/
#SeanMichaelWIlson #EcoTragedy #manga

#Aravinda's article about dams and illiteracy brings together #PaulFarmer on a #dam in #Haiti, and abuse of #MinamataDisease patients by #IshiharaShintaro. I read the article years ago (on Zcomm Znet) and it kept coming to mind even during those years when I couldn't find it again.
https://signalsinthefog.wordpress.com/2000/11/11/peoples-knowledge-in-the-paperless-society/

> “Don’t talk like illiterates!” thundered Justice Kurdukar when asked about the responsibility of Maharashtra government towards displaced villagers of Maharashtra being relocated to Gujarat.
- https://signalsinthefog.wordpress.com/2000/11/11/peoples-knowledge-in-the-paperless-society/

#obnoxious #richguy #JudgeKurdukar is like #IshiharaShintarou #石原慎太郎 : the way he ridiculed #MinamataDisease patients after seeing their #petition . Ishihara said "low IQ" instead of "illiterate" but the intent is the same, to ignorethe actual harm to the #primarypeople.

> What made you decide to take up the project?
> A friend of mine who is an environmental campaigner has a few of my books on social issues and suggested that I do the next one on Minamata. I had heard of it before and thought it was a good idea.
> So, he took me down to Minamata to meet with the disease sufferers and those who care for them. They took me on a tour of some key places connected to the issue, and I learned a lot.
https://japan-forward.com/new-manga-brings-attention-to-ecotragedy-of-minamata/
#Minamata #MinamataDisease #水俣病

> Not merely a place where artifacts and documents are displayed, the Minamata Disease Museum's goal is raising questions about and beyond Minamata's facts, calling for a broader thinking on the way we make our living within the contemporary society.

- https://www.minamatadiseasemuseum.net/

#Minamata #MinamataDisease #GrassRoots #museum #Japan #industrialcivilization