Learning Activities at School The Minamata-Ashikita Pollution Research Circle
The Minamata-Ashikita Pollution Research Circle was established in 1976 by local elementary, junior high and high school teachers, who reflected on their acts of discrimination at the outbreak of Minamata disease. It lays out the idea that they should understand the patients’ minds and treat them in the same way we would treat ourselves. They assessed their school education about pollution, studied how to teach, made various materials/programs, and provided opportunities for their students to learn from patients invited into their classrooms. Such challenges made the teachers to question their own attitudes as educators. Teaching children about Minamata disease at the original site is not easy. The teachers cannot avoid dealing with local conflicts caused by these incidents of Minamata disease. Here, with the patients’ support, we are offering teaching/study materials of Minamata disease.
