The , which is also called the , is a shallow semi-enclosed

inland sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a shallow sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water which covers ap ...

separating the island of

Kyūshū is the third largest island of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally ) is an island country An island country or an island nation is a country A country is a distinct territory, territorial body or political entity. It ...

from the

Amakusa Islands , which means "Heaven's Grass," is a series of islands off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Geography The largest island of the Amakusa group is Shimoshima Island, Amakusa, Shimoshima, which is 2 ...

. It lies mostly within

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken in the area around Rome, known as Latium. ...

and at the southern end of the sea it also borders

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square mile ...

. To the north is the

Ariake Sea The is a body of salt water surrounded by Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous Munic ...

; to the south, the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbour and support life. 29.2% o ...

. Cities of note that lie on the Yatsushiro Sea include

Yatsushiro is a city A city is a large human settlement.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be ...

itself and

Minamata is a Cities of Japan, 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 M ...

Mercury pollution

The sea was heavily

polluted Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, ...

with

mercury Mercury usually refers to: * Mercury (planet) Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System and the closest to the Sun. Its orbit around the Sun takes 87.97 Earth days, the shortest of all the Sun's planets. It is named after the Roman g ...

mercury

during the 1950s and 1960s from the

Chisso Corporation The , since 2012 reorganized as JNC (Japan New Chisso), is a :Chemical companies of Japan, Japanese chemical company. It is an important supplier of liquid crystal used for LCDs, but is best known for its role in the 34-year-long pollution of the ...

's chemical factory in Minamata.Yoshida 2006. This highly toxicity, toxic chemical Bioaccumulation, bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in the Yatsushiro Sea which, when eaten by the local populace, gave rise to Minamata disease. The pollution disease was responsible for the deaths and disabling of thousands of residents, all around the Yatsushiro Sea. The marine ecosystem was also extensively damaged.

References

Bibliography

Yoshida, F. (2006). Environmental restoration of Minamata: new thinking brings new advances. Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science, 2, 85-93

Mercury pollution

References

Bibliography

See also