Aga ni ikiru (阿賀に生きる)
Makoto Satō
1992. DVD (ca. 115 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 14
Summary: Over a three year period the film makers recorded the lives of people living in a small village on the banks of the Agano River in Niigata Prefecture. Many are suffering the effects of mercury poisoning from methyl mercury released into the river by the corporate giant Shōwa Denkō Kabushiki Kaisha. This second outbreak of Minimata disease is known as Niigata Minamatabyō or Daini Minamatabyō.
Igaku to shite no Minamatabyō : sanbusaku. [Dainibu], Byōri, Byōzō-hen (医学としての水俣病 三部作. [第二部], 病理・病像篇)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1974. DVD (ca. 103 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 6
Summary: Part two of a trilogy of films on Minimata disease features the pathological findings on Minamata disease by medical experts. They discusse how methyl mercury poisoning affects the brain and cranial nerves, causing a variety of functional disorders. At the time the film was made (1974), the government had established a sytem of officially certifying Minamata disease to provide victims with medical treatment and compensation. However, the recognition process is long and involved, and some applications are left pending for years, allowing patients to go untreated. This is a particularly serious problem for mentally disabled children because medical science had not yet proven a causal relation between methyl mercury poisoning and mental disorders. On the other hand, the animal experiments conducted by Shiraki Hirotsugu, a neuropathologist at Tokyo University, showed that methyl mercury accumulates in fetuses' bodies. The film ends with the pathologist Takeuchi Tadao at Kumamoto University warning that the fish in the Sea of Shiranui are still contaminated with methyl mercury. The fishermen who live in the area have continued to eat the fish putting them at increasing risk of contracting late-onset Minamata disease.
Igaku to shite no Minamatabyō sanbusaku. [Dai ichibu], Shiryō, shōgen hen (医学としての水俣病 三部作. [第一部], 資料・証言篇)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1974. DVD (ca. 82 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 5
Summary: Part one of a trilogy, filmed in 1974, about the research done on Minamata disease, which is caused by methyl mercury poisoning. Medical researchers discuss how they discovered the cause of disease which was initially thought as an epidemic. Includes clips of patients suffering from spasm, convulsions, and various severe physical as well as mental disabilities. The film describes this pollution illness as a social disease and reports that the number of patients was still increasing at the time of filming.
Igaku to shite no Minamatabyō sanbusaku. [Daisanbu], Rinshō, ekigaku hen (医学としての水俣病 三部作. [第三部], 臨床・疫学篇)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1975. DVD. All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 7
Summary: Part three of a trilogy of films on Minimata disease, this film features the clinical findings of Harada Masazumi at Kyūshū Daigaku, who is both a psychiatrist and a neurology clinician. While the number of people who were apparently afflicted with Minamata disease was increasing during the 1970s, there was no increase in offiically certified victims, with the result the large number of uncertified patients were unable to receive any compensation. This film looks at some patients whose applications for official recognition have been turned down or held up by ad hoc certification committees.
Kaisō Kawamoto Teruo (回想川本輝夫)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1999. DVD (ca. 42 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 15
Summary: Kawamoto Teruo was a Minamata disease victim who dedicated himself to fighting for proper recognition and compensation for those suffering from this terrible disease . When Kawamoto passed away in Feb. 1999, Tsuchimoto Noriaki, who had produced documentary films on the disesae, collected film clips of Kawamoto to create this tribute to screen at his memorial service.
Minamata (水俣)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1971. DVD (ca. 167 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 1
Summary: This film looks at the plight of the victims of Minamata disease, which is caused by methyl mercury poisoning. In 1969, 29 families sued Chisso Kabushiki Kaisha, which was responsible for releasing mercury-polluted industrial waste water into Minamata Bay and out to the Sea of Shiranui. With this lawsuit, the Minamata victims made their situation a national issue. Following them as they go about their daily lives, the film shows the plaintiffs appealing for public support through fund-raising campaigns and demonstrations. In order to confront the company directly, the patients purchase Chisso's stocks so they can attend a stockholders' meeting. At a stock holders' meeting held in Osaka in Nov. 1970, as soon as the president speaks to open the meeting, the roar of the audience drowns him out. At the time of filming, only 121 individuals were recognized as Minamata disease patients. The number of applications to be certified as Minamata patients later reaches about 15,000. This film documents the initial stage of the Minamata disease lawsuit.
Minamata (水俣)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1971. DVD (ca. 120 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 2
Summary: This film looks at the plight of the victims of Minamata disease, which is caused by methyl mercury poisoning. In 1969, 29 families sued Chisso Kabushiki Kaisha, which was responsible for releasing mercury-polluted industrial waste water into Minamata Bay and out to the Sea of Shiranui. With this lawsuit, the Minamata victims made their situation a national issue. Following them as they go about their daily lives, the film shows the plaintiffs appealing for public support through fund-raising campaigns and demonstrations. In order to confront the company directly, the patients purchase Chisso's stocks so they can attend a stockholders' meeting. At a stock holders' meeting held in Osaka in Nov. 1970, as soon as the president speaks to open the meeting, the roar of the audience drowns him out. At the time of filming, only 121 individuals were recognized as Minamata disease patients. The number of applications to be certified as Minamata patients later reaches about 15,000. This film documents the initial stage of the Minamata disease lawsuit.
Minamata ikki (水俣一揆)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1973. DVD (ca. 108 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 4
Summary: On Mar. 20, 1973, the Kumamoto District Court found Chisso Kabushiki Kaisha responsible for releasing methyl mercury into Minamata Bay which causes the neurological syndrome known as Minamata disease among those who eat contaminated marine products from the ocean. The decision required Chisso to pay compensation as the plaintiffs had been seeking. At the time of filming the Minamata disease patients were disunited due to their different attitudes towards negotiations with Chisso. A small number of patients who decided to negotiate directly with Chisso went to the company's Tokyo headquarters and demanded the company executives sign an oath guaranteeing life-time medical treatment and compensation for themselves. In the presence of these patients, the executives admit to the company's responsibility, but the company president initially hesitates to sign the document, claiming that such an agreement would invite more and more demands for compensation, which could drive the company into bankruptcy. The delegation of victims explodes in anger at the company's insincerity; and the president eventually aplogizes and signs the document. The flim gives an account of the ongoing face-to-face negotiations between Chisso executives and the disease victims over medical treatment and compensation.
Minamata nikki (みなまた日記)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1996. DVD (ca. 100 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 16
Summary: In 1994, Minamata disease victims held an exhibition in Tokyo where portraits of the all the 1,080 people who had died of the disease by that time were displayed. Tsuchimoto Noriaki and his wife Motoko spent a year in Minamata collecting photos of the deceased. In this film Tsuchimoto discusses the contemporary community of Minamata and those suffering from the disease, and shows films and photographs from Minamata, including festivals, stage performances, music concerts, memorial services for the victims, etc.
Minamata no amanatsu (水俣の甘夏)
Masato Koike
1984. DVD (ca. 55 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 12
Summary: Some fishermen who suffer from Minamata disease become too ill to continue in their livelihood. The 49 fishing families form a cooperative, "Minamatabyō Kanja Katei Kaju Dōshikai," and start cultivating sweet summer oranges, special products of Minamata. Having experienced the harmful consequences of industrial pollution firsthand, they try growing chemical-free, organic oranges. Except some members use weed-killers, which not only betrays their principles but also damages their team work spirit. Through many a meeting the group reaches a decision.
Minamata no zu, monogatari (水俣の図・物語)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1981. DVD (ca. 111 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 11
Summary: In 1979, husband and wife artists Maruki Iri and Maruki Toshi, who created for the Hiroshima Panels (Genbaku no zu), turned their attention on Minamata. They visited Minamata and found the people and the scenery beautiful, but the finished mural painting only expresses the sufferings of Minamata disease victims. In late fall of 1980, they visited Minamata again and drew portraits of Minamata disease victims. Two girls whose portraits they drew they used as subjects in their second work on Minamata.
Minamata repōto. I, Jitsuroku Kōchōi (水俣レポート. I, 実錄公調委)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1971. DVD (ca. 112 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 3
Summary: These films made in the early 1970s document the activities of the victims of Mianamata disease who decide to sue Chisso Kabushiki Kaisha, which released methyrl mercury into Minamata Bay, causing this pollution-related disease. "Minamata repōto I" (ca. 48 min., 1973) was filmed two months before the judgment in the lawsuit was reached at the Kumamoto District Court. At that time of filming, Chisso has been trying to proceed with arbitration with those patients who have not joined in the "litigation group," through "Kōchōi" (abbreviation of Kōgai Tō Chōsei Iinkai, translated as the Central Pollution Board). Kōchōi is rushing to reach arbitration settlements before the court rules on the lawsuit, because a ruling for the victims would result in greater compensation. The disease victims uncover that Kōchōi has fabricated documents of applications and letters of attorney without the knowledge of the victims. At the same time in Minamata, medical doctors are examining patients who have remained silent and uncertified. "Kanjin" (ca. 24 min., 1971) documents the representatives of the Minamata disease victims who go to Tokyo to attend the interrogation of Nishida Eiichi, Chisso's plant manaager. The representatives, in the clothes of pilgrimage, visit the houses of seven executives of Chisso in Tokyo. But the doors of the executives' houses are closed to them. "Shimin no michi" (ca. 40 min., 1972) records the activities of the victims in Tokyo, from Nov. 1971 to March 1972. They conducted sit-ins in front of the main office of Chisso, demanding direct negotiations with the company. In Feb. 1972, Chisso finally agrees to meet with the representatives with the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, at the Environment Agency (current Ministry of the Environment). As a result of the three months sit-in the talks are broken off, and arbitration is entrusted to a third party.
Minamatabyō (水俣病)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1976. DVD (ca. 135 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 9
Summary: "Minamatabyō sono 20-nen" (ca., 43 min., 1976) recaps the 20 years of suffering of the Minamata disease patients. The film covers the outbreak of the disease, animal experiments with mercury poisoning, mental and physical conditions of the patients and their legal struggles with Chisso, the company responsible for pumping mercury polluted industrial waste water into Minamata Bay and out to the Sea of Shiranui. The film ends with fishermen fishing in the Sea of Shiranui, exemplifying the people in Minamata's dependence on fishing. "Minamatabyō sono 30-nen" (ca., 46 min., 1987) portrays the ongoing sufferings of the Minamata disease patients, demonstrating that the problems of Minimata have not been resolved. Although Chisso and the Japanese government agreed to pay compensation to the disease victims, as of 1986, only 2,147 applicants out of 14,596 were certified as Minamata disease sufferers.
Minamatabyō bideo Q&A (水俣病ビデオQ&A)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1965. DVD (ca. 137 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 17
Summary: "Minamata Q&A" (30 min., col. with b&w sequences, 1996) was created for the exhibition on Minamata disease held at Tokyo in 1996, overviewing Minamata disease as an industrial pollution-related disease that still poses unsolved problems today. "Minamata no ko wa ikite iru" (25 min., b&w, 1965) follows a female social worker in training who visits Minamata for one week and finds that the patients and their families live in utter poverty and receive very little public assistance or compensation, and that the parents of prenatally damaged children give up trying to get hospital care for them despite of the severity of their condition. Onizuka Iwao, who worked for the company responsible for Minamata disease, Chisso Kabushiki Kaisha, produced many films, photographs and books on the subject. This DVD includes four of his early works produced with Chisso's Labor Union. "Minamatabyō [1]" (20 min., b&w., 1968) reports the history of Minamata disease as it occurred in Minamata, Kumamoto, and the Agano River area of Niigata. The film criticizes Chisso for denying its responsibility for releasing mercury-polluted industrial water into Minamata Bay, while appealing for solidarity among disease patients and supporters in the fight against Chisso. "Minamatabyō 2" (22 min., b&w., 1969) documents the activities of disease victims and supporters to increase awareness with the public and make a plea for donations to the cause. After the arbitration with Chisso fails, a litigation group is formed to file a lawsuit against the company at the Kumamoto District Court in June 1969. "Ikarenai sekai" (22 min., b&w., 1970) focuses on prenatally damaged Minamata disease patients. Mentally and physically handicapped , some are unable to see or hear and/or speak to express their suffering. "Odaku to hōshutsu" (18 min., col., 1987?) shows Chisso's inadequate drainage systems which were continuing to pollute the waters of Minamata Bay thirty years after the disease first came to light.
Mukonaru umi (無辜なる海)
Naotaka Katori
1983. DVD (ca. 81 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 13
Summary: In the early 1980s when Minamata disease seemed to have faded from public awareness, some young people stayed in Minamata and filmed the lives of the families who still suffer from the disease. The Iwamoto family's daughter is prenatally damaged Minamata disease patient but she has not been officially certified. An old lady tearfully tells her story. In the village of Meshima, half of the residents have applied for certification while some hesitate to apply, worrying that certification will exclude them from marriage and a career.
Shiranuikai (不知火海)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1975. DVD (ca. 153 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 8
Summary: This films depicts the lives of the people of Minamata. The fishermen in villages by Shinanui Sea (also known as Yatsushiro Sea) still practice traditional fishing techniques and live peacefully. However, there also the Minamata disease patients who suffer from mercury poisoning. The film particularly focuses on young patients infected prenatally who receive care at Meisuien, the clinic especially for Minamata disease patients. One day they throw a party where the patients have a good time, but no guests or family members attend. A boy wants to join the film crew; another boy wants to drive a car. In another clip taken at the seashore, two young patients talk to a doctor. A girl asks the doctor if surgery could cure her. The doctor says no, and he realizes the girl has no hope for the future. There are several islands in Shiranui Sea where no serious medical intervention has occurred despite the fact that a medical examination detected a high concentration of mercury in the hair of a deceased resident. The film ends with a fisherman singing a song of praise for the fertile Sea of Shiranui while he trawls for globefishes.
Waga machi waga seishun (わが街わが青春)
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
1978. DVD (ca. 43 min.) All region
Call#: DVD RA1231.M5 K64 2006 vol. 10
Summary: Two decades have passed since Minamata disease was officially recognized, and the children prenatally infected with mercury poisoning have grown up. They desire to do something special on their own for the benefit of all Minimata disease victims and decide to host a concert featuring Ishikawa Sayuri. In order to make the concert successful, eight young patients put up posters, sell tickets and distribute despite their physical disabilities. On the day of the concert, they bring Ishikawa Sayuri to Meisuien, the special clinic for Minamata disease patients where they grew up. The concert hall is packed and the event is a great success.
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