was a Japanese doctor and medical researcher. His most famous work covered the effects of
Minamata disease, a type of severe
mercury poisoning
Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashe ...
that occurred in the city of
Minamata
is a city located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It is on the west coast of Kyūshū and faces Amakusa islands. Minamata was established as a village in 1889, re-designated as a town in 1912 and grew into a city in 1949. As of March 2017, the ...
,
Kumamoto Prefecture during the 1950s and 1960s. His publications included (1972) and (1989). He died June 11, 2012, of acute myelocytic leukemia at his home in Kumamoto.
Timeline
*1934 Born in
Kagoshima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
*1959 Graduates from
Kumamoto University medical department and goes on to study
psychoneurology
*1972 ''Minamata-byō'' is published
*1989 ''Minamata Ga Utsusu Sekai'' is published
*1994 Receives the
Global 500 Prize from the
United Nations Environment Program
*1999 Retires from Kumamoto University and joins
Kumamoto Gakuen University
*2004 ''Minamata-byō'' is published in English as ''Minamata Disease''
*2012 Dies of leukemia
Published works in English
*Harada, Masazumi. (1972). ''Minamata Disease''. Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun Centre & Information Center/Iwanami Shoten Publishers. C3036
See also
*
Minamata disease
External links
"10 Years of Environment and Development in Asia"(an interview with Masazumi Harada) by Keiko Ito, ''Asahi Shimbun'', 1 October 2002
by
Kumamoto Gakuen University (in Japanese)
References
People from Kagoshima Prefecture
Japanese neurologists
1934 births
2012 deaths
Minamata disease
Kumamoto University alumni
Kumamoto University faculty
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