Minamata Disease

A translation from the fundamental Japanese literature that the people who are studying Minamata disease should read first of all.

First published in Japanese by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo in 1972.
This English edition published by Minamata disease Patients Alliance and distributed by Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun Culture & Information Center in 2004.
Written by the doctor who played the leading role in discovering congenital Minamata disease, this book provides a medical view of and social commentary on Minamata disease from its official discovery in 1956 through patient participation in the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. In his work with Minamata disease patients Dr. Harada became convinced of the need to understand the patient’s life, family relations, community and psychological state as well as physical symptoms. His book provides us with a personal, social, and medical context for understanding the early history of the Minamata disease incident.

By Harada Masazfoot_bl.
Translated by Tsushima Sachie and Timothy S. George.
Translation edited by Timothy S. George.

2,625 yen.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
I. The Outbreak of Minamata Disease
1. Discovery of a "Strange Disease"
2. Environmental Pollution Had Increased
3. The Start of the Research
II. Seeking the Causative Substance
1. Difficulties in Discovering the Causative Substance
2. Various Theories
III. The Identification of Mercury
1. Mercury Is Considered
2. Chisso's Response
3. The Confirmation of Organic Mercury as the Cause
IV. Congenital Minamata Disease
1. Frequent Occurrence of Cerebral Palsy?
2. The Long Road to Certification
V. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
1. The Coal Dust Explosion in the Miike Coal Mine
2. Compensation for Industrial Accidents
VI. The Outbreak of Niigata Minamata Disease
1. The Outbreak of a Second Minamata Disease
2. The Lessons of Niigata Minamata Disease
VII. From Recognition as a Pollution-Related Disease to the Lawsuit
1. Recognition as a Pollution-Related Disease
2. The Minamata Disease Lawsuit Brought to Court at Last
3. The Minamata Disease Research Group
4. Mediation by the Ministry of Health and Welfare Committee
VIII. Seeking a Full Picture of Minamata Disease
1. Certified Patients Are the Tip of the Iceberg
2. Difficulties in Breaking Down Commonly Held Opinions
A. The Question of When It All Began
B. The Extent of the Area in which Minamata Disease Appeared
C. The Clinical Symptoms of Minamata Disease
3. Learning from the Experience in Niigata
IX. Hidden Minamata Disease
1. In Search of Hidden Patients
2. The Barrier of the Certification Committee
3. Full-Scale Medical Examinations at Last
4. Minamata Disease: An Unprecedented Pollution Disease
X. Minamata Disease Is Not Over Yet
1. Participating in the United Nations Conference on the Environment
2. Medical Science in the Minamata Disease Trial
3. Problems Remaining for the Future
Postscript
Bibliography
Author's addendum to the English translation: the course of the Minamata desease incident since Minamata disease was first published.

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Minamata Disease

By Harada Masazfoot_bl.Translated by Tsushima Sachie and Timothy S. George.Translation edited by Timothy S. George.

2,625 yen.

By Harada Masazfoot_bl.
Translated by Tsushima Sachie and Timothy S. George.
Translation edited by Timothy S. George.