THE district court of Osaka recognized all 1238 plaintiffs as patients of the Minamata mercury poisoning and ordered the national government, the prefecture, and Kumamoto and Chisso Corporation to pay for compensation.
The national government, the prefecture of Osaka, and Japanese companies, Kumamoto and Chisso Corporation, were ordered to give compensation by awarding 2.75 million yen, or 18,400 U.S. dollars to each previously recognized victim who suffered from Minamata Disease.
The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit demanding relief for the said disease caused by mercury poisoning.
The plaintiffs were reportedly in their 50s and 80s and were living in Kumamoto and nearby Kagoshima at the time of mercury poisoning.
They later moved to Osaka and elsewhere in the western area of Japan.
The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in 2014 because they were excluded from the 2009 compensation, and demanded 4.5 million yen or 30,170 U.S. dollars each.
Osaka Judge Yuki Tatsuno said the plaintiffs were presumed to have consumed fish tainted with mercy at high levels, and this is enough for them to develop the disease as children before moving away from the region.
Minamata disease was first diagnosed in 1956.
It was later linked to seafood consumption from Minamata Bay, Kyushu Island, Japan, where the chemical factory Chisso dumped mercury compounds.
This incident is one of Japan’s worst environmental disasters in the country’s history.
Over 38,000 individuals have received more than 2 million yen lump sum payments under the law, however, there are individuals who do not meet certain requirements to receive compensation, such as those who were born before November 1969.
