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In 1908, Chisso Corporation's factory began producing chemical fertilizers, later becoming a major chemical factory in Japan. The development of the factory was paralleled by the development of the city of Minamata. Minamata, which was just a village, increased its population, becoming an industrial city, and the public of Minamata began working at the Chisso factory.
However by 1950 shellfish started to die as well as fish with their bellies up, and seaweed stopped growing. In 1932 the Chisso Minamata Factory had started producing acetaldehyde, a raw material of plastic. When acetaldehyde is produced, methyl mercury with severe toxicity is generated. The methyl mercury flowed into the sea with discharged water, and sludge containing a large amount of mercury accumulated at the bottom of the sea. From 1954, many cats died and birds fell from the sky. At homes in which fish was mixed into the feed and given to chickens and pigs, domestic animals went mad and died.
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