was a Japanese doctor and medical researcher. His most famous work covered the effects of

Minamata disease Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning. Signs and symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cas ...

, 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 is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...

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 , abbreviated to ''Kumadai'' (熊大), is a Japanese national university located in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture in the Kyushu region of Japan. It was established on May 31, 1949, at which time the following institutions were subsumed into it; ...

medical department and goes on to study

psychoneurology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology often focus on how injuries or illnesses of t ...

*1972 ''Minamata-byō'' is published *1989 ''Minamata Ga Utsusu Sekai'' is published *1994 Receives the Global 500 Prize from the

United Nations Environment Program The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

*1999 Retires from Kumamoto University and joins

Kumamoto Gakuen University called Gakuendai (学園大) or Shōdai (商大), is a private Japanese university in Kumamoto, Japan. It was established in 1942, at which time Eastern Language Vocational College (東洋語学専門学校 ''Tōyō Gengo Senmon Gakkō'') wa ...

*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

External links

"10 Years of Environment and Development in Asia"
(an interview with Masazumi Harada) by Keiko Ito, ''Asahi Shimbun'', 1 October 2002

by

(in Japanese)

References

People from Kagoshima Prefecture Japanese neurologists 1934 births 2012 deaths Minamata disease Kumamoto University alumni Kumamoto University faculty {{japan-med-bio-stub

Timeline

Published works in English

See also

External links

References