Foundation In 1906,
Shitagau Noguchi, an
electrical engineering graduate of
Tokyo Imperial University, founded the which operated a
hydroelectric power station in
Ōkuchi,
Kagoshima Prefecture. The power station supplied electricity for the gold mines in Ōkuchi but had overcapacity. To make use of the surplus power, in 1908, Noguchi founded the which operated a
carbide factory in the coastal town of
Minamata,
Kumamoto Prefecture, about 30 km northwest of Ōkuchi. In the same year he merged the two companies to form the - usually referred to as
Nichitsu.
Expansion In 1909, Noguchi purchased the rights to the
Frank-Caro process, whereby atmospheric
nitrogen was combined with
calcium carbide (a key product of the young company) to produce
calcium cyanamide, a chemical
fertilizer. Nitrogenous fertilizers were key to boosting agricultural production in
Japan at the time, due to its lack of arable land and the small-scale nature of its farms, so the company found a ready market for its product. Nichitsu also branched out into other products produced from
calcium carbide, beginning production of
acetic acid,
ammonia,
explosives and
butanol. Production of
ammonium sulfate (another chemical fertilizer) started in 1914 at a plant in
Kagami,
Kumamoto Prefecture, using a
nitrogen fixation process - a Japan first. Sales of ammonium sulfate were increasing year-on-year as were market prices. A new plant was opened at the
Minamata factory in 1918 where it was able to produce ammonium sulfate for 70 yen per ton and sell it for five and a half times the cost. These massive profits enabled Nichitsu to survive the subsequent drop in prices after the return of foreign competition into the Japanese market after the end of
World War I in Europe in September 1918. After the war, Noguchi visited Europe and decided Nichitsu should pioneer an alternative synthesis of
ammonium sulfate in Japan. In 1924, the Nichitsu plant at
Nobeoka began production using the
Casale ammonia synthesis which required the use of extremely high temperatures and pressures. Once the process was proved a success, the
Minamata plant was converted to the process and began mass production. Nichitsu grew steadily, invested its profits in new technology and expanded production into new areas and slowly became a large conglomerate of many different companies.
Nichitsu in Korea In 1924, Shitagau Noguchi expanded Nichitsu into
Korea, a
colony of Japan. In 1926, he established two companies in Korea as subsidiaries of Nichitsu, mirroring the foundation of the parent company: and . Noguchi wanted to repeat his success in Ōkuchi and Minamata, but on an even greater scale in Korea. The power company constructed hydroelectric power plants along rivers draining into the
Yalu River. In 1927, the fertilizer subsidiary built a huge chemical complex in
Hungnam. The hydroelectric power plants supplied electricity for the chemical plant, in the same way as the Ōkuchi power plant had done so for the Minamata chemical factory. Nichitsu invested in Korea more aggressively than any other Japanese company. It and its subsidiaries grew rapidly in Korea, and came to be recognized as an emerging
zaibatsu. The difference between Nichitsu's zaibatsu and established zaibatsu like
Mitsubishi and
Mitsui was that Nichitsu did not have its own bank and insurance company. Hence, Nichitsu relied on government-controlled banks.
Dissolution and reorganization As Japan lost the
Second World War in 1945, Nichitsu and its zaibatsu collapsed and was forced to abandon all properties and interests in Korea. Furthermore, the
US-controlled
Allied occupation of Japan ordered the dismissal of the company, regarding it as a company that adhered to the militarism government. In 1950, the , usually referred to as
Shin Nichitsu, was founded as a successor of the old company. Other successor companies include
Asahi Kasei and
Sekisui Chemical.
Minamata disease Nichitsu had started production of
acetaldehyde using a
mercury catalyst at its Minamata plant in May 1932, and Shin Nichitsu continued production after the war. The plant discharged wastewater from its acetaldehyde plant into
Minamata Bay via
Hyakken Harbour. The wastewater contained many pollutants and poisonous substances including methylmercury, a highly toxic chemical. This chemical was absorbed by fish and shellfish and bioaccumulated up the
food chain. People who unknowingly ate the fish over many years suffered from severe
mercury poisoning.
Hajime Hosokawa, a doctor at a Shin Nichitsu's company hospital, officially reported on May 1, 1956 an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease. In 1963, doctors at
Kumamoto University concluded that the cause of Minamata disease was mercury emitted by Shin Nihon Chisso Hiryo. In 1965, the company changed its name to . In May 1968, Chisso finally stopped using a
mercury catalyst in the production of
acetaldehyde. In 1969, patients sued Chisso for compensation. Many lawsuits were filed against Chisso after 1969, and some of them go on even now. Chisso president, later chairman Yutaka Egashira (later maternal grandfather of
Masako, Empress of Japan) used
yakuza in order to threaten and silence patients and their supporters. In addition, Chisso had American photographer and photo-journalist
W. Eugene Smith beaten by yakuza goons after Smith published a highly regarded photo-essay showing the caustic injuries and birth defects Chisso had caused the Minamata population. The centerpiece of the work, titled "
Tomoko and Mother in the Bath", depicted the severe deformation of a child in her mother's arms after the child was exposed to the effects of Chisso's contamination of the water supply. In response to Chisso's beating of W. Eugene Smith for dissemination of the photographs, Smith was awarded the
Robert Capa Gold Medal in 1974 for "best published photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise". The company's "historical overview" in its current website makes no mention of their role in the mass contamination of Minamata and the dreadful aftermath, although a separate section of the website, accessed from the same list as the overview, is devoted to the subject. This section, however, is absent from the English version of the website. Additionally, their 2004 Annual Report reports an equivalent of about US$50 million (5.82 billion yen) in "Minamata Disease Compensation Liabilities". From 2000 to 2003, the company also reported total compensation liabilities of over US$170 million. Their 2000 accounts also show that the
Japanese and
Kumamoto prefectural governments waived an enormous US$560 million in related liabilities. Their FY2004 and FY2005 reports refer to Minamata disease as "
Mad Hatter's Disease", a term coined from the mercury poisoning experienced by hat-makers of the last few centuries (cf
Mad Hatter).
Animal experimentation After initial reports of Minamata disease emerged Chisso secretly conducted animal experiments in the 50s, exposing effluent to cats by mixing it in with their food. Despite Hosokawa's discoveries and public disclosures in 1959 the company did not release their experimental findings and continued to release effluent. The shack used during the animal experimentation was later obtained by The Supporting Center for Minamata Disease(Soshisha) in 1974 and is on display at the Minamata Disease Museum in
Kumamoto Prefecture. == See also ==