The 'Dancing Cat' Disaster of Japan | Minamata Explained

In the 1950s, the people of Minamata, Japan started seeing strange behavior from the local cats, and it wasn't long before humans were showing the same symptoms. So what actually happened? Join Hank Green for a new episode of SciShow all about the truth of Minamata.
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[TheTomBevis]

Isn't that the way it always goes? Spend 12 years proving the damage before a corporation will spend a penny to stop the poisoning.

[rareroe]

Just from the video title, I was thinking "Ooooh, did they act weird when they knew an earthquake was coming or something?"
The real video was much more depressing.

[Cruznick]

The reason the cats were affected so much sooner than humans was not only due to their size but also the parts of the fish that were thrown out as scraps. The organs had greater amounts of mercury than the flesh. Shinzo Co. denied their culpability in the disaster for decades and even buried the work of one of their physicians. They stuck to the story of "we aren't dumping organic mercury so it isn't us" far longer than they should have. The whole disaster actually inspired the story and world of Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind.

[jennifersakura]

My family is from Minamata. It is now one of the loveliest places to live. There are still residents who are still living with the effects of the poisoning.

[pierrecurie]

But it gets worse. The company basically said

"It's so awful what happened to this quaint town. Because we're so generous and care about our community, we're offering money to those affected. Only condition is that you waive the right to sue us. We wouldn't want to bite the hand that feeds us, right?"

[iwot]

12 years before even stopping the dumping... damn.

[Cythil]

This makes me a bit annoyed as people knew back in the 1950's that mercury was bad. A lot of other stuff was just mistakes. CFCs, Asbestos, and DDT were all not considered harmful when they were adopted. CFCs where for example know for not being reactive those should be pretty harmless. Asbestos had been used for a really long time but only in small quanties.

[midgefidget]

When I was a kid there was a pictoral article in Life Magazine. This video did little to convey the horror of what happened to these townspeople. I'm over 65 now and that one article remains as one of the most traumatic things to ever happen to me. The horror of it can not be conveyed in words. You did an excellent job and I actually thank you for not including pictures of the victoms.

[JudeTMi]

So i learnt about this in uni and the insidious thing is that the fishermen were initially pleased because the fish were easy to catch, also an even scarier fact is that the Chisso Corporation is still running today.

[mo_arrows]

0:53 Missed Opportunity to say CATalyst

[firstnamelastname-bxmd]

a MAN made preventable disaster, the CEO's and responsible parties in the chemical company should have been charged with man-slaughter, negligence and environmental destruction, horrific

[theLivind]

I searched for "Minamata dancing cats" and found a video where they show footage of the people affected by mercury poisoning. Absolutly chilling to think that a corporation can ruin your ability to control and or even steady your own body like that and get away with it. I hope the people who allowed this to happen, and then covered it up, got long and harsh prison sentences.

[razibbaraljoy]

After watching this, I went through several Minamata disaster videos. They are just horrific. Death is far better than this disease.
God bless us.

[LANPA]

I wish you guys would have mentioned, at least in passing, the work of W. Eugene Smith, how his percistance and documentary photography helped expose the issue.

[aidanmacnaull]

Does anyone else find this like, legit horrifying?

[Jade-gp]

Cats are really animals of routine (from my observation). When the cats start acting weird, something is usually wrong. My cat saved me from a black widow by acting weird.

[nosuchthing]

When you opened with the claim that living next to a chemical factory next to a bay was perfect, I immediately was suspicious. Because of dumping.

[Cobrax]

This is probably one of the reasons "mysterious deadly disease covered up by a conspiracy" is a common trope in thoughtful scary japanese media.
As in one of my favorite anime, Higurashi no Naku koro ni.

[nicholashylton]

_Trust corporations! They always have your best interests in mind._
_Lower pollution standards!_
_Jobs over public health!_
_Scientists don't now anything!!_ /sarcasm off...

[rickiex]

So regulations are actually a good thing? Well, I'll be damned