The methyl-mercury poisoning in Minamata Bay first became apparent in 1953, with sick children and "dancing cats," cats so frenzied they would "dance" and die. Initially it was thought that this was a contagious disease, and the victims were spurned by other villagers. It became obvious in the late 1950s that the release of methyl mercury from the Chisso chemical plant in Minamata Bay had caused high levels of mercury in fish, which resulted in the health problems of the local community, especially fishermen. Michiko Ishimure was a shy housewife from Minamata who was concerned about the plight of the villagers, who became ill from ingesting high levels of mercury.

Ishimure, who talked with many of the sick and dying, wrote Cruel Tales of Japan: Modern Period, her first account of the toxic effect of mercury poisoning in 1960. Her second, definitive work on the "Minamata disease" (Paradise...