Cases / Waste management · Japan · 1956–1988

Chisso executives sentenced over Minamata disease in 1979

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report

No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.

Did nature suffer? Not measured.

What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

Mercury-laden waste from Chisso's factory flowed into the bay at Minamata, Japan, for decades. 2,265 people were officially recognised as patients by 2001, and two former managers were sentenced in 1979.

What?

Chisso's mercury-laden waste flowed into the bay at Minamata for decades; a 1979 sentence of two years was upheld in 1988 Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Where?

Minamata, Japan Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

When?

Period listed as 1956–1988; sentence in 1979, upheld in 1988 Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Who?

Gained

Chisso Corporation — Continued discharging wastewater until 1968, per an account of the 1959 cat experiment

Lost

None on record

Harmed

People with Minamata disease — 2,265 officially recognised patients by 2001; more than 17,000 applications

Why?

Not stated in the sources reviewed.

How?

Mercury-laden wastewater from a factory flowed into the bay over decades Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Mercury-laden waste from Chisso's factory flowed into the bay at Minamata for decades, according to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

In 1979 a former Chisso president and a former plant manager were sentenced to two years in prison for causing death and serious injury; the Supreme Court upheld the sentence in 1988.

A 1959 cat experiment by Chisso's hospital director reportedly linked the poisoning to factory wastewater; the company is reported to have concealed the result, and the government acknowledged the cause only in 1968.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

1988Outcome not on record
Criminal case over Minamata disease against Chisso executives
Japanese courts · Criminal · → Former president and plant manager of Chisso
Two years’ imprisonment in 1979 for causing death and serious injury; upheld by the Supreme Court in 1988. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

Nature

Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Court

Unclear Criminal case over Minamata disease against Chisso executives: outcome not on record.

Record

None on record The 1959 cat experiment, the concealment and the 1968 acceptance are cited to a source not linked here.
None on record The names of the executives are not given in this record.
None on record The number of people affected beyond the 2001 figure is not stated.