ABSTRACT
Minamata disease remains one of the most horrific examples of environmental poisoning of 20th-century Japan. This chapter explores the uneasy relationship between the name “Minamata disease” and representations of people suffering with neurological damages. Through engaging with the narratives of present-day sufferers, I explore how naming and images intersect within the lives of Minamata disease victims and their families. I suggest that the politics of naming pollution-related diseases rests, in part, at the intersection of atrocity art and medicine, where sufferers, their supporters, and government technocrats contend with and rely upon these images, public perception, and scientific ambiguity. As a result, these collectively influence Minamata disease's epidemiological narrative and access to indemnities.
