Rowing The Eternal Sea The Story Of A Minamata Fisherman Keibo Oiwa Keib Iwa by Keibo Oiwa [keibō Ōiwa], Karen Colligan-taylor 9781122333443, 9780742500211, 0742500217, 1122333447 instant download after payment.

It was not until 1968 that the government acknowledged its cause—organic mercury poisoning from effluent released by Chisso Corporation, a chemical manufacturer & the largest employer in the Japanese city for which the disease was named. 

For decades the company denied responsibility & was joined by the Japanese government in its attempt to cover up the problem despite lawsuits & political protests.

In this compelling oral history, Ogata Masato, fisherman & Minamata disease sufferer, tells of the devastation of methyl mercury poisoning. Spanning fifty years, his story describes the impact of industrial pollution on his own life, on his extended family, & on the fishing culture of the Shiranui Sea. A one-time leader of Minamata disease patients seeking certification & compensation, Masato breaks away to follow his personal path to redemption.

Masato's story begins with the vibrant village of his childhood & culminates with the possibility of return, if not to one's birthplace, then to a spiritual community, to a consciousness that we owe our existence to the web of interrelationships that constitute life. When we turn full circle, explains Masato, we find ourselves again at the water's edge, a place where all life gathers. 

This is the launching point for "Tokoyo," boat of the Eternal World-a world defined at once by the past, present & future; a state of mind in which we are responsible not only for our own actions but for those of our society & our species. 

Masato's story, larger than any one man or one incident, raises questions we must all consider as beneficiaries of modern industry & technology.