Numbers of Minamata disease victims and settlement amounts (English)

Hi! Here is a quick summary of the information I posted in Japanese about the numbers of victims of Minamata disease and the amounts that have received or are expected to receive. Please click here to view the Japanese message.

1. Certified patients

Kumamoto: 1,778
Kagoshima: 490人

When victims of mercury poisoning in Niigata prefecture are included the total of certified patients rises to about 3,000.

Only about 13.5% of the people who have applied in Kumamoto have actually been certified. Certified patients can be said to be the tip of the iceberg.

Amount: 16 to 18 million yen plus 67,000 to 170,000 yen each month.


2. 1995 political settlement

10,353 people received 2.6 million yen.


3. 2004 Supreme Court verdict

51 people received 4.5 to 8.5 million yen.


4. New law (2009)

Up to 30,000 people may receive about 2 million yen (details unclear at this writing).