As far as I know, this is the most detailed article to be published in English on the recent Minamata disease Supreme Court ruling. It’s a fairly meaty article – worth reading. Here’s one quote that I think is representative of the terrible treatment patients have received:
“Chie Mizoguchi, who started suffering health problems around 1955, applied for certification as a Minamata disease patient in 1974. She would have had to live around 18 more years to hear the first decision on her application: the Kumamoto prefectural government’s rejection in 1995.”
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201304170076
