Minamata

Minamata
Author: W. Eugene Smith
Publisher: Center for Creative Photography
Total Pages: 24
Release: 1981-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780938262053

Minamata

Minamata
Author: Timothy S. George
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2001
Genre: History
ISBN:

Based on primary documents and interviews, this text describes three rounds of responses to a tragic case of mercury poisoning, focusing on the efforts of its victims and their supporters to secure redress.

The Minamata Story

The Minamata Story
Author: Sean Michael Wilson
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press, Inc.
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2021-06-15
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1611729408

A powerful graphic novel /manga that tells the story of "Minamata disease," a debilitating and sometimes fatal condition caused by the Chisso chemical factory's careless release of methylmercury into the waters of the coastal community of Minamata in southern Japan. First identified in 1956, it became a hot topic in Japan in the 1970s and 80s, growing into an iconic struggle between people versus corporations and government agencies. This struggle is relevant today, not simply because many people are still living with the disease but also because, in this time of growing concern over the safety of our environment--viz. Flint, Michigan--Minamata gives us as a very moving example of such human-caused environmental disasters and what we can do about them.

Bitter Sea

Bitter Sea
Author: Akio Mishima
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Total Pages: 236
Release: 1992-08-15
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN:

The cause of Minamata disease—a fatal illness that attacks the nervous system—was first pinpointed in 1957 as organic mercury poisoning from effluent released by the Chisso Corp., a chemical manufacturer and the largest employer in the Japanese city for which the disease was named. For the next 20 years the company denied responsibility, and was joined by the government in its attempt to cover up the problem. One courageous woman, Michiko Shirashi, took up the cause of the people affected by the disease; her book, Paradise of the Bitter Sea , won nationwide recognition and support for the victims. Freelance journalist Mishima gives a gripping account of this long, bitter struggle, with Shirashi at the center. There were lawsuits that ran on for years, and sit-ins at company offices. Finally, there was some recompense for the victims and a start on cleanup. This story is dramatic evidence of the results of a national policy of prosperity at any cost; it permitted one company to irrevocably damage the waters around Minamata. Black-and-white photos.

Rowing the Eternal Sea

Rowing the Eternal Sea
Author: Keibō Ōiwa
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0742500209

An oral history describing the devastion of methyl mercury poisoning. Spanning 50 years, the author describes the impact of industrial pollution of his own life, on his extended family and on the fishing culture of the Shiranui Sea.

Minamata

Minamata
Author: Timothy S. George
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2020-05-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1684173477

Nearly forty years after the outbreak of the “Minamata Disease,” it remains one of the most horrific examples of environmental poisoning. Based on primary documents and interviews, this book describes three rounds of responses to this incidence of mercury poisoning, focusing on the efforts of its victims and their supporters, particularly the activities of grassroots movements and popular campaigns, to secure redress. Timothy S. George argues that Japan’s postwar democracy is ad hoc, fragile, and dependent on definition through citizen action and that the redress effort is exemplary of the great changes in the second and third postwar decades that redefined democracy in Japan.

A World Otherwise

A World Otherwise
Author: Yuki Miyamoto
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2021-02-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 179364361X

In her book A World Otherwise: Environmental Praxis in Minamata, Yuki Miyamoto examines the struggles of those suffering from Minamata disease, eponymous with the Japanese city in which a Chisso factory released methylmercury into the Shiranui Sea, leading to widespread poisonings. Miyamoto explores Minamata sufferers’ struggles, examining their physical pains as well as the emotional plight of having lost their loved ones, their livelihood, and fellowship in communities, to the illness. Miyamoto’s analysis focuses on the philosophies and actions of a group, Hongan no kai, comprised of Minamata disease sufferers and their supporters in 1994. Relying on the group’s newsletter, “Tamashii utsure” (Transferring the spirit), this monograph explores the ways in which Hongan no kai members have come to terms with their experiences as well as their visions of “a world otherwise” (janaka shaba), where ontology, epistemology, and worldviews are construed differently from those of this modern world.

Framing in Sustainability Science

Framing in Sustainability Science
Author: Takashi Mino
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2019-11-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9811390614

This open access book offers both conceptual and empirical descriptions of how to “frame” sustainability challenges. It defines “framing” in the context of sustainability science as the process of identifying subjects, setting boundaries, and defining problems. The chapters are grouped into two sections: a conceptual section and a case section. The conceptual section introduces readers to theories and concepts that can be used to achieve multiple understandings of sustainability; in turn, the case section highlights different ways of comprehending sustainability for researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders. The book offers diverse illustrations of what sustainability concepts entail, both conceptually and empirically, and will help readers become aware of the implicit framings in sustainability-related discourses. In the extant literature, sustainability challenges such as climate change, sustainable development, and rapid urbanization have largely been treated as “pre-set,” fixed topics, while possible solutions have been discussed intensively. In contrast, this book examines the framings applied to the sustainability challenges themselves, and illustrates the road that led us to the current sustainability discourse.

Toxic Water

Toxic Water
Author: Meish Goldish
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Mercury
ISBN: 9781684022243

"[This book] traces the tragic story of toxic wastewater from a factory that poisoned an entire Japanese town. Photos of the actual events, maps, and fact boxes [complement] the text"--Amazon.com.