Minamata Mercury Poisoning

Recognizing a scene in an old photo …

Dennis: That’s the Chisso plant in Minamata isn’t it?
Antonio: Sharp eye. Yes. 1973.
Dennis: Wasn’t that the time Eugene Smith was documenting the Minamata-byō?
Antonio: He was photographing the mercury poisonings a couple of years earlier. 
Dennis: They got compensation, didn’t they?
Antonio:

It took years. The company didn’t recognize that it was their waste-water that poisoned the bay, got into the shellfish and fish. The company remained defensive deceptive and aggressive so when I was trying to take a photo of the plan, like with Eugene, the guards rushed over and demanded the negatives. I avoided that by escaping.
Dennis: Did you interview any victims?
Antonio: Three. Heartbreaking stories, they were. 
_________
Voice-over
By March 2001, 2,265 victims had been officially recognized as having Minamata disease[3] and over 10,000 had received financial compensation from Chisso (Japanese government figures).