Search｜Photos & Images & Videos｜KYODO NEWS IMAGES INC

World Cup 2026 – US: Dutch Fans March Through Kansas City Ahead of Match Against Tunisia

Netherlands fans marched through the streets of Kansas City ahead of their team's final World Cup group-stage match against Tunisia on Thursday, June 25.

E

US: EF-1 Tornado Touches Down In Athens, AL, Leaving Devastating Damage

The National Weather Service in Huntsville has confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down in downtown Athens, Alabama, on Saturday night, December 28.

E

Monument with 3 poems by Emperor unveiled in Minamata

KUMAMOTO, Japan - Minamata Mayor Hiroshi Nishida (L) attends an unveiling ceremony for a monument inscribed with three poems by Emperor Akihito at a seaside park in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan, on March 18, 2014. The poems describe his sentiments toward victims of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease following his visit to the city with Empress Michiko for the first time in October 2013.

E

Emperor, empress visit Minamata

MINAMATA, Japan - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko lay flowers at the monument to Minamata disease victims in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 27, 2013. The imperial couple visited the city for the first time, where toxic industrial emissions caused the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease. (Pool photo)

E

Emperor, empress visit Minamata

MINAMATA, Japan - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko lay flowers at the monument to Minamata disease victims in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 27, 2013. The imperial couple visited the city for the first time, where toxic industrial emissions caused the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease. (Pool photo)

E

Emperor, empress visit Minamata

MINAMATA, Japan - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko lay flowers at the monument to Minamata disease victims in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 27, 2013. The imperial couple visited the city for the first time, where toxic industrial emissions caused the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease. (Pool photo)

E

Emperor, empress visit Minamata city

MINAMATA, Japan - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko watch juvenile flatfish they have released in Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 27, 2013, during a public event on sea resources. The imperial couple visited the city for the first time, where toxic industrial emissions caused the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease.

E

Minamata Convention

KUMAMOTO, Japan - United Nations Environment Program Executive Director Achim Steiner (L) and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands during a press conference after an international conference to adopt the landmark "Minamata Convention on Mercury" in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 10, 2013. Delegates from across the world adopted the treaty to regulate the use and trade of mercury, named after a Japanese city where industrial emissions of the toxic substance caused a poisoning disease affecting thousands of people.

E

Minamata Convention

KUMAMOTO, Japan - Japanese Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara signs the landmark "Minamata Convention on Mercury" after chairing an international conference to adopt the treaty in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 10, 2013. Delegates from across the world adopted the pact to regulate the use and trade of mercury, named after a Japanese city where industrial emissions of the toxic substance caused a poisoning disease affecting thousands of people.

E

Minamata Convention

KUMAMOTO, Japan - Japanese Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara (L) signs the landmark "Minamata Convention on Mercury" after chairing an international conference to adopt the treaty in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 10, 2013. Delegates from across the world adopted the pact to regulate the use and trade of mercury, named after a Japanese city where industrial emissions of the toxic substance caused a poisoning disease affecting thousands of people.

E

Minamata Convention

KUMAMOTO, Japan - Japanese Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara (C) serves as president of an international conference organized by the U.N. Environment Program in Kumamoto City on Oct. 10, 2013. Delegates from across the world adopted "the Minamata Convention on Mercury," an international treaty to regulate the use and trade of mercury, at the conference later in the day.

E

Minamata Convention

KUMAMOTO, Japan - An international conference organized by the U.N. Environment Program is held in Kumamoto City on Oct. 10, 2013. Delegates from across the world adopted "the Minamata Convention on Mercury," an international treaty to regulate the use and trade of mercury, at the conference later in the day.

E

Minamata Convention

KUMAMOTO, Japan - Japanese Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara speaks at an international conference organized by the U.N. Environment Program in Kumamoto City on Oct. 10, 2013. Delegates from across the world adopted "the Minamata Convention on Mercury," an international treaty to regulate the use and trade of mercury, at the conference later in the day.

E

Abe angers Minamata disease sufferers

MINAMATA, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (on screen) speaks in a video message sent to an international environmental conference in the southwestern Japan city of Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture on Oct. 9, 2013. Abe's remarks that Japan has overcome the damage from mercury poisoning in the 1950s and 1960s angered some of those still suffering from the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease.

E

Mercury poisoning treaty

GENEVA, Switzerland - Japanese government representatives applaud after negotiators agreed, in accordance with Japan's proposal, to name a new international treaty on regulating mercury trading as the "Minamata Convention," at the United Nations in Geneva on Jan. 19, 2013. Minamata is a city in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture that has given its name to a mercury-poisoning disease that was caused by the discharge of mercury-laced wastewater by a local chemical plant.

E

Application deadline for Minamata redress

KAGOSHIMA, Japan - People visit the city office of Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, on July 31, 2012, to apply for state redress under a special law for potential patients of Minamata mercury poisoning disease. The deadline for the application will expire later in the day despite a petition by more than 100,000 people to extend the time limit.

E

Minamata disease authority Harada dies

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in May 2001 in Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, shows Masazumi Harada, a physician involved for many years in the study of the mercury poisoning-caused Minamata disease, giving a medical checkup to a man suspected of being a congenital sufferer of the disease. Harada died on June 11, 2012, of leukemia at his home in Kumamoto City. He was 77.

E

(2)2 die, more than 10 missing in mudslides in Kyushu

MINAMATA, Japan - An abandoned car stands buried in mudslides in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture on July 19. The Minamata municipal office has set up a disaster countermeasures office and issued an evacuation advisory for the entire city.

E

Protest rally by Minamata disease patients in 1970

TOKYO, Japan, June 22 Kyodo - Minamata disease patients and their supporters stage a protest rally in front of the Health and Welfare Ministry in Tokyo on May 25, 1970, carrying photo boards of people suffering from the neurological disease caused by mercury-tainted water dumped into the sea by a Tokyo-based chemical company that ravaged the small coastal city of Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan.

E

LEDs for Medical Germicidal Lamps from Nitride Semiconductor

The inactivation of bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, influenza virus and norovirus has already been verified at the virus center of the Sendai Medical Center of the National Hospital Organization (Miyagino Ward, Sendai City). The company plans to test the system on a new type of corona within the next month. UV and mercury lamps are used as germicidal lamps in medical facilities. However, UV lamps have a short life span and are easily broken, and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, an international regulation, will ban the manufacture, import and export of mercury-based lighting from 2021. Against this background, the spread of high-output deep UV LEDs is expected in the future. Photo taken on March 30, 2020 (location unknown), credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

E

A Report from Minamata: Proof of Life

Jitsuko Tanaka, 18, an Minamata disease patient, was finally certified last December even though her disease started in 1955. The mercury used as a catalyst in the production process of acetaldehyde (a raw material for chemical products) at Chisso Corporation in Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture, was discharged into nature as factory effluent, which turned into organic mercury (methyl mercury). The main symptoms are sensory disturbance, nausea, and vomiting. The main symptoms are sensory disturbance, ataxia, narrowing of the visual field, hearing impairment, etc. In severe cases, the brain is affected, leading to death. In severe cases, it can affect the brain and lead to death. In addition, if a mother eats seafood contaminated with mercury during pregnancy, the fetus may develop Minamata disease. 　 In addition, if the mother eats seafood contaminated with mercury during pregnancy, fetal Minamata disease may develop. Date of shooting unknown, Date of release: March 10, 1972.

E

Japan court orders city gov't to recognize 7 Minamata disease victims

The Niigata District Court orders the Niigata city government on May 30, 2016, to officially recognize seven people as sufferers of the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease. (Pool photo)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata marks 60th anniv. of mercury-poisoning disease recognition

Around 50 people pray for the victims of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease at a memorial ceremony in the city of Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on May 1, 2016, marking the 60th anniversary of Japan's official recognition of the illness linked to industrial pollution. An annual memorial service usually attended by the environment minister and Kumamoto governor was postponed in the wake of a series of powerful earthquakes in the region since mid-April. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata marks 60th anniv. of mercury-poisoning disease recognition

Around 50 people pray for the victims of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease at a memorial ceremony in the city of Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on May 1, 2016, marking the 60th anniversary of Japan's official recognition of the illness linked to industrial pollution. An annual memorial service usually attended by the environment minister and Kumamoto governor was postponed in the wake of a series of powerful earthquakes in the region since mid-April. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Part of bullet train line resumes in quake-hit area

Passengers alight from a shinkansen bullet train at JR Kagoshima-Chuo Station in the southwestern Japan city of Kagoshima on April 20, 2016. Kyushu Railway Co. resumed shinkansen services for the first time in six days between JR Shin-Minamata station and Kagoshima-Chuo station, following a series of powerful earthquakes. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Part of bullet train line resumes in quake-hit area

A shinkansen bullet train arrives at JR Kagoshima-Chuo Station in the southwestern Japan city of Kagoshima on April 20, 2016. Kyushu Railway Co. resumed shinkansen services for the first time in six days between JR Shin-Minamata station and Kagoshima-Chuo station, following a series of powerful earthquakes. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Part of bullet train line resumes in quake-hit area

Passengers board a shinkansen bullet train at JR Kagoshima-Chuo Station in the southwestern Japan city of Kagoshima on April 20, 2016. Kyushu Railway Co. resumed shinkansen services for the first time in six days between JR Shin-Minamata station and Kagoshima-Chuo station, following a series of powerful earthquakes. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

SNAPSHOT: 50 yrs since confirmation of Niigata Minamata Disease

People fall silent in honor of those who passed away from Niigata Minamata Disease on May 31, 2015, the 50th anniversary of its official confirmation, during a memorial ceremony in the central Japan city of Niigata. Around 300 attendants pledged efforts to prevent another pollution tragedy. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

SNAPSHOT: 50 yrs since confirmation of Niigata Minamata Disease

Setsuko Kotake looks at her deformed fingers in the central Japan city of Niigata on May 8, 2015. Kotake, who believes herself to be a victim of Niigata Minamata Disease and has taken on a role to tell children of her painful experiences, said the issue will not be solved until the whole picture is clarified although a half century has passed since "the second Minamata disease" was officially confirmed. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata exhibition to be held in Kumamoto

Yuta Jitsukawa, chief of Minamata Forum, prepares for the upcoming Minamata Disease Exhibition in the city of Kumamoto, at the nonprofit organization's office in Tokyo on Oct. 27, 2017. The poster of the event can be seen behind him. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

FOCUS: 60 yrs on, campaigners still call for justice for Minamata patients

Yuta Jitsukawa (2nd from R) attends a meeting of Minamata Forum at its Tokyo office on April 6, 2016. To mark the 60th anniversary of the official recognition of Minamata disease, the nonprofit organization plans to give a series of talks in early May in Tokyo, while holding the 25th Minamata Exhibition in the city of Kumamoto in October. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

FOCUS: 60 yrs on, campaigners still call for justice for Minamata patients

Minamata Forum head Yuta Jitsukawa (2nd from R) attends a meeting of the nonprofit organization in Tokyo on April 6, 2016. Marking the 60th anniversary of the official recognition of Minamata disease, the group plans to give a series of talks in early May in Tokyo, while holding the Minamata Exhibition in the city of Kumamoto in October. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

SNAPSHOT: 50 yrs since confirmation of Niigata Minamata Disease

Tomoko Sekikawa, a doctor who has examined victims of Niigata Minamata Disease for more than 40 years, examines a man complaining of symptoms of the mercury-poisoning disease on May 22, 2015, at a clinic in the central Japan city of Niigata. A half century has passed since "the second Minamata disease" was officially confirmed, after a similar disease was detected in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto in 1956. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

SNAPSHOT: 50 yrs since confirmation of Niigata Minamata Disease

Photo taken from a Kyodo News airplane on May 22, 2015, shows the mouth of the Agano River in the central Japan city of Niigata. Mercury-tainted wastewater discharged by a Showa Denko K.K. plant into the river caused Niigata Minamata Disease, which was officially confirmed a half century ago. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata disease course at Kumamoto college marks 10th anniv.

KUMAMOTO, Japan - Former NHK director Yonosuke Matsuoka gives a lecture at the Minamata Studies course at Kumamoto Gakuen University in the city of Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Dec. 15, 2011. (Kyodo)

E

Emperor, empress visit Minamata city

MINAMATA, Japan - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko watch juvenile flatfish they have released in Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 27, 2013, during a public event on sea resources. The imperial couple visited the city for the first time, where toxic industrial emissions caused the Minamata mercury-poisoning disease. (Kyodo)

E

Minamata disease patient to attend conference on mercury pollution

Photo taken in June 2017 in the southwestern Japan city of Minamata shows Shinobu Sakamoto, a Minamata disease patient, who will visit Switzerland in September to attend the first conference of signatory states to an international treaty to prevent mercury pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata marks 62nd anniv. of mercury-poisoning disease

Patients of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease and family members of the victims attend a memorial service in the southwestern Japanese city of Minamata on May 1, 2018, the 62nd anniversary of Japan's official recognition of the disaster caused by industrial pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata marks 62nd anniv. of mercury-poisoning disease

Preparation work is under way for a memorial service to commemorate the victims of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease in the southwestern Japanese city of Minamata on May 1, 2018, the 62nd anniversary of Japan's official recognition of the disaster caused by industrial pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata marks 62nd anniv. of mercury-poisoning disease

People offer a prayer for victims of Minamata mercury-poisoning disease in the southwestern Japanese city of Minamata on May 1, 2018, the 62nd anniversary of Japan's official recognition of the disaster caused by industrial pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Japan environment minister, mercury pollution victim meet in Geneva

Shinobu Sakamoto (C), a victim of Minamata mercury poisoning, and Japanese Environment Minister Masaharu Nakagawa (R) shake hands in Geneva on Sept. 29, 2017. Sakamoto attended the first conference of signatory states to an international treaty to prevent mercury pollution in the Swiss city. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Victim highlights suffering in event on mercury pollution treaty

Shinobu Sakamoto (2nd from R), a 61-year-old victim of Minamata mercury poisoning, speaks at an event in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sept. 28, 2017, on the sidelines of the first conference of signatory states to an international treaty to prevent mercury pollution. Sakamoto from the southwestern Japan city of Minamata was exposed to the toxic chemical while in the womb after her mother ate seafood contaminated with methyl mercury. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Victim highlights suffering in event on mercury pollution treaty

Shinobu Sakamoto, a 61-year-old victim of Minamata mercury poisoning, speaks at an event in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sept. 28, 2017, on the sidelines of the first conference of signatory states to an international treaty to prevent mercury pollution. Sakamoto from the southwestern Japan city of Minamata was exposed to the toxic chemical while in the womb after her mother ate seafood contaminated with methyl mercury. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Victim highlights suffering in event on mercury pollution treaty

Shinobu Sakamoto, a 61-year-old victim of Minamata mercury poisoning, speaks at an event in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sept. 28, 2017, on the sidelines of the first conference of signatory states to an international treaty to prevent mercury pollution. Sakamoto from the southwestern Japan city of Minamata was exposed to the toxic chemical while in the womb after her mother ate seafood contaminated with methyl mercury. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata disease patient in Geneva

On a wheelchair, Shinobu Sakamoto, a Minamata mercury-poisoning disease patient, meets with Indonesian government officials on Sept. 27, 2017, in Geneva. Sakamoto is visiting the Swiss city to attend the first conference of signatory states of an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury pollution. Indonesia faces serious environment and health problems caused by mercury pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata disease patient in Geneva

On a wheelchair, Shinobu Sakamoto, a Minamata mercury-poisoning disease patient, meets with Indonesian government officials on Sept. 27, 2017, in Geneva. Sakamoto is visiting the Swiss city to attend the first conference of signatory states of an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury pollution. Indonesia faces serious environment and health problems caused by mercury pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata disease patient in Geneva

Shinobu Sakamoto (L), a Minamata mercury-poisoning disease patient, gives a video message on Sept. 27, 2017, in Geneva to be aired during a U.N. Environment Programme meeting in December in Nairobi. Sakamoto is visiting the Swiss city to attend the first conference of signatory states of an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata disease patient in Geneva

Shinobu Sakamoto (R), a Minamata mercury-poisoning disease patient, meets with U.N. Environment Programme Deputy Executive Director Ibrahim Thiaw (L) in Geneva on Sept. 25, 2017. Sakamoto is visiting the city to attend the first conference of signatory states of an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata disease patient in Geneva

Shinobu Sakamoto (L), a Minamata mercury-poisoning disease patient, meets with U.N. Environment Programme Deputy Executive Director Ibrahim Thiaw (R) in Geneva on Sept. 25, 2017. Sakamoto is visiting the city to attend the first conference of signatory states of an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

E

Minamata disease patient at press conference in Geneva

Shinobu Sakamoto, a Minamata mercury-poisoning disease patient, attends a press conference, organized by a group of nongovernmental organizations, in Geneva on Sept. 25, 2017. Sakamoto is visiting the city to attend the first conference of signatory states of an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury pollution. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo