In the mid-1950s the lethal effects of the toxic wastewater dumped into Minamata Bay first became noticeable with the death of fish.
That was followed by the strange behaviour of cats, and in 1956 the disabling effects of methyl mercury poison on the human population.
Despite conclusive evidence that the poison originated from the Chisso industrial chemical factory, the causative processes were not discontinued until 1968.
More than 75,000 people suffered from Minamata poisoning.
Minamata is a documentary type film telling of this catastrophe, but with a parallel story of a down-and-out journalist rediscovering his calling.