It might not be art yet it is relevant to our health and the food chain.
No holiday cheer here. The Japan Times announces that the 20th Minamata Disease Exposition starts in Chiba (December 11).
Not a show really rather a reminder of how this mercury poisoning took place.
The Minimata Disease (a neurological syndrome caused by mercury poisoning) is so called according to Minamata Disease and the Mercury Pollution of the Globe (by Masazumi Harada, M.D., Ph.D) because it was discovered for the first time in the world at Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, in 1956.
It was the result of chemicals being released by local companies which in turn contaminated local fish and shellfish. People then got sick by eating them.
A book titled "Fifty Years of Minamata Disease" relating what people who lived it experienced was published to mark the 50th anniversary of its discovery in 2006 (cover above).
The 20th Minamata Disease Exposition runs until December 28, 2008.
A reflective Tokyo Thursdays # 68
Previously: Art Space Tokyo, An Illustrated Guide to Neighborhoods, Places and People
Related: Is Floating Garbage Dump new Pacific Ocean Landmark?
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