In the 1950s, residents of the small fishing village of Minamata on the southern island of Kyūshū began to fall ill with a disease (later named Minamata disease) that caused damage to the central nervous system, physical disfiguration, abnormal pregnancies, and death. Investigations revealed what is now one of the most well-known cases of environmental pollution in Japan's, and indeed the world's, modern history—from 1932 to 1968, the Chisso Corporation manufactured the chemical acetaldehyde, used to make plastics, with a mercury catalyst that it had been dumping as industrial waste into Minamata Bay. The chemical company's poisoning of the marine ecosystem of the Shiranui Sea and the residents of its fishing communities is a story not just of industrial pollution, but also of civic activism. The physically damaged victims and their supporters, angered by ongoing evasion of responsibility by both Chisso and the government, pressed for redress and humane treatment in a legal battle that has continued in some form until the present day. In his essay, Eric Johnston outlines the history of this effort and offers thoughts about the legacies and ongoing struggles of Minamata 50 years after the first case of Minamata disease was officially reported in 1956. He also suggests how the unfolding story of Minamata was shaped by the interests and power of various constituencies such as activist citizens, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Chisso Corporation, and how this past has influenced memories of the environmental and humanitarian disaster.