Minamata's Living Legacy

On May 28, 1956, Dr. Hosokawa reported the outbreak of a “strange disease” to the Public Health Department. Later that summer, the outbreak reached epidemic proportions, and fears of the disease being contagious were rampant. Dr. Hosokawa’s research eventually led him to suspect that his employer, Chisso Corporation, was the source of the disease. Finally in 1973, Chisso was found guilty of negligence and ordered by the court to provide compensation payments to verified victims of the disease. As a result, many victims received monetary compensation, but did this compensation resolve or remedy the physical disabilities incurred from mercury poisoning? In the aftermath, how will the victims surmount the physical limitations that were imposed on them without their knowledge or consent? “Minamata’s Living Legacy” is a visual record of the devastating results of the Chisso-Minamata Disease, as it continues to be lived by the few surviving victims and their community.