"Minamata ruling appealed by state, Kumamoto and Chisso Corp.", 11 October 2023

The central government and Kumamoto Prefecture both appealed an Osaka District Court ruling that expanded the definition of Minamata disease victims beyond the state’s standards and ordered compensation to be paid to plaintiffs.

The appeals were filed separately with the court on Oct. 10. Chisso Corp., the chemical manufacturer responsible for causing mercury poisoning by discharging industrial wastewater into Minamata Bay in the prefecture, filed its appeal Oct. 4.

An Environment Ministry official said the Osaka District Court’s Sept. 27 ruling “significantly deviates from international scientific knowledge as well as (past) rulings finalized by the Supreme Court.”...

The plaintiffs had been denied relief granted under a 2009 special measures law.

But the court recognized all 128 plaintiffs as victims of Minamata disease and ordered the central government, the Kumamoto prefectural government and Chisso to pay a total of 352 million yen ($2.36 million) in compensation, or 2.75 million yen per plaintiff.

The plaintiffs criticized the central government and the Kumamoto prefectural government for challenging the ruling...

Lawyers for the plaintiffs, citing their advancing years, had urged the Environment Ministry not to appeal the ruling and resolve the case through talks at an early date...

Patients who have not been recognized as victims of Minamata disease under the special measures law have also filed similar lawsuits with district courts in Kumamoto, Tokyo and Niigata.