All language subtitles for Minamata_ Kanja-san to sono sekai 1971

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