Minamata

Pollution and the Struggle for Democracy in Postwar Japan

By Timothy S. George.

3,150 yen
(Paper cover book)
Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center (distributed by Harvard University Press), 2002.

Based on primary documents and interviews, this book offers the most comprehensive study of the Minamata incident available in English, as well as a fascinating look at the dynamics of Japanfs postwar democracy in the context of popular thought and action. As George notes, the story of Minamata disease allows us to look at the history of postwar Japan, "from the bottom up and from the periphery toward the center." The book is structured around three rounds of responses as the victims and their supporters sought to secure redress.

Table of Contents 

        Tables, Maps, and Figures                  xi
Note on Conventions                                xv
Introduction                                       1
Part I: Background, 1907-1955
  Town, Factory, and Empire                        13
    The Setting                                    13
    The Factory Comes to Minamata                  16
    The Growth of Nitchitsu                        18
    Nitchitsu, Minamata, and Imperial Japan        21
  Minamata Before the Disease                      26
    Nitchitsu and Minamata Society                 26
    Defeat, Recovery, and Boom                     30
    Minamata Politics in the 1950s                 35
    Life in Minamata in the 1950s: Hamamoto        38
    Tsuginori
Part II: The First Round of Responses
  Discovering the Disease and Its Cause            45
  The First Solution, 1959                         71
    The Fisherfolk's Struggle for Compensation     71
    The Victims' Struggle for Compensation         102
    ``As Clean as River Water'': The Third Leg     114
    of the ``Solution''
Part III: ``Years of Silence''?
  Maintaining the Solution                         125
    The Fishers                                    125
    The Patients                                   144
  Change Undermines the Solution                   154
    Changes in Minamata                            154
    Changes in Japan                               171
Part IV: The Second Round of Responses,
1968-1973
  Bringing the Issue to the Nation                 179
    1968                                           179
    An End to Solidarity: Leave It up to           191
    Others, or Sue?
    Kawamoto Teruo and the Uncertified Patients    203
    New Forms of Action and a Broadening Base      210
    of Support
  In and Out of Court: The Second Solution         222
    The Leaflet War in Minamata                    222
    Direct Negotiations in Tokyo                   228
    Defections and Confrontations                  235
    The Mediation Group and the Forgery Incident   238
    The Trial: Proving Negligence                  241
    After the Verdict: Negotiating from a          249
    Position of Strength
Part V: Since 1973
  Minamata and the Tragedy of Japan's              261
  ``Modernity''
    Remembering: Tales and Lessons of Minamata     261
    Events Since 1973: Toward a More Complete      263
    Solution
    Painfully Slow Healing                         271
    Conclusion: Minamata and Postwar Democracy     280
Epilogue: Restless Spirits                         287
Reference Matter
Notes                                              295
Bibliography                                       339
Index                                              365

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