Minamata, Kumamoto

Minamata (in Japanese水 俣 市, - shi) is a Japanese city in Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu on the coast to the inland sea Shiranuikai connected by a strait to the East China Sea. In the area there are several thermal springs, which are used for bathing.

History

The city was appointed on 1 April 1949 Shi.

Minamata became the term for damage to the environment from uncontrolled dumping of waste into the Yatsushiro Sea, as showed in the place mid-1950s, damage to the central nervous system of humans and animals, which are attributed to chronic mercury poisoning caused by untreated sewage a chemical plant of the Chisso could and later under the name of Minamata disease were known. According to current estimates, about 10,000 people were injured, about 3,000 have died.

In Minamata to 140 countries agreed in January 2013 at a United Nations conference on the " Minamata Convention ", signed on 11 October 2013 Japanese Kumamoto. The Convention provides for the global monitoring and reduction of mercury emissions before, especially in the ore (primarily gold mining ), from coal-fired power plants, cement plants, metallurgical plants and waste incineration, as well as the elimination of mercury-containing products such as thermometers and batteries.

Traffic

• Road National Road 3: to Kagoshima or Kitakyushu

• JR Kagoshima Main Line: to Kagoshima or Kikakyūshū

Adjacent Cities and Towns

• Ōkuchi
• Izumi

Twinning

• Australia Devonport, Australia

Sons and daughters of the town

• Tokutomi Soho was a Japanese historian and journalist.
• Tokutomi Roka was a Japanese writer.
• Tanigawa Ken'ichi is a Japanese folklorist.