27 April 2026, Quezon City. The toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition paid tribute to a victim of the Minamata tragedy, Japan’s worst industrial disaster, who traveled to the Philippines to offer a first-hand account of the sufferings and hopes of the mercury poisoning victims.
Hideo Ikoma, then 73, visited the Philippines in 2017 with tireless advocate Yoichi Tani to discuss the impacts of Minamata disease and the victims’ ongoing fight for justice at the invitation of the EcoWaste Coalition.
Japanese visitors Hideo Ikoma and Yoichi Tani met an official of the Environmental Management Bureau in 2017 to advocate for the Philippine ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
The group belatedly learned that Ikoma passed away in February 2026.
Ikoma developed Minamata disease in 1958 when he was a junior high school student. Although he lived a life full of hardships due to the debilitating effects of mercury exposure, social discrimination, and stigma, he married and was blessed with two children.
“We honor Hideo Ikoma for a life well-lived,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition. “We thank him for coming over to the Philippines to personally share the struggles and hopes of the Minamata disease sufferers and their long fight for recognition, compensation, and justice.”
Minamata disease is a severe neurological syndrome caused by methylmercury poisoning.
Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. It is named after Minamata Bay in Kumamoto Prefecture, where the first outbreak of this disease occurred in the 1950s as a result of years of mercury waste dumping by Chisso Corporation, contaminating seafood, poisoning residents for decades, and causing health problems across generations
At a seminar in Quezon City co-organized by the EcoWaste Coalition with the Minamata disease victims’ groups, Ikoma gave a moving personal testimony about his exposure to methylmercury despite his speech difficulties.
Hideo Ikoma shares his sufferings and hopes as a Minamata disease survivor at a 2017 seminar co-organized by the EcoWaste Coalition in Quezon City.
“I ate many crabs and fish caught from Minamata Bay in 1958, exposing me to mercury and causing my admission to the Kumamoto Fujisakidai Hospital. I was in junior high school at the time. Since then, every day has been a struggle between life and death because of the Minamata disease that many other victims and I have to endure,” he said.
As explained by Tani of the Minamata Disease Collaboration Center and the Minamata Disease Victims Mutual Aid Association: “More than 400,000 people were living along the coast of the Shiranui (Yatsushiro) Sea in Kyushu in the 1950s when methyl mercury contamination was at its peak. The population of the area where mercury-tainted seafood was sold exceeds two million. In the past few years, more than 60,000 victims have filed claims for relief, complaining of headache, numbness in their extremities, spasms, tremors, and other neurological symptoms.”
Now seven decades on, Minamata mercury poisoning survivors, well into their 70s, still face a grueling battle for recognition, relief, and justice. Last April 23, for example, the Fukuoka High Court rejected the plea of seven victims for recognition under Japan’s Pollution-Related Health Damage Compensation Act.
The court’s decision prompted the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) to issue a statement reaffirming its support for the Minamata disease sufferers. IPEN just concluded its Global Meeting held in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, from April 20 to 24.
“IPEN fully supports the righteous cause of the Minamata disease survivors and their support groups. We support their demands for recognition, fair compensation, and the implementation of a healthcare system to ensure their long-term well-being and security,” declared IPEN. “To the Minamata disease sufferers and your support groups, you are not alone! We stand by you in your struggle for healing and justice.”
Almost nine years after the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force, the victims of the mercury poisoning tragedy for which it is named are still waiting for full justice and resolution. The said treaty, which entered into force on August 16, 2017, aims to protect public health and the environment from human-caused emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
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Reference:
https://ipen.org/articles/court-denies-justice-minamata-disease-survivors
https://www.ecowastecoalition.org/minamata60-groups-recall-minamata/
