Minamata Mercury Poisoning

In the late 1950s thousands of people in the far south west of Japan were poisoned by industrial waste. A factory was pumping heavy metals into a river which led to the sea. Locals who ate fish and seafood from the surrounding area suffered all sorts of disabilities as a result.

Fujie Sakamoto lost one daughter to what was being called 'Minamata disease', her second daughter was born severely disabled.

Photo: Fujie Sakamoto today.