Plaintiff Toshiyuki Kawakami wears a banner reading "The states and Kumamoto Prefecture responsibilities recognized" after Friday Supreme Court decision in Tokyo.

It's taken 48 years to establish government responsibility in the worst industrial poisoning case.

The Supreme Court on Friday held the central government and Kumamoto Prefecture responsible for Minamata disease in awarding 71.5 million yen in damages to plaintiffs in the nation's worst-ever case of industrial poisoning.

The decision, upholding most of a 2001 high court ruling, said the government and Kumamoto Prefecture failed to stop chemical manufacturer Chisso Corp. from dumping mercury waste into Minamata Bay and contaminating marine resources that residents depended on for food.

Thirty-seven plaintiffs are eligible for payments.

On learning of the ruling, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi commented: ``We must never again allow such a tragic case of pollution to occur. We must solemnly accept the court's judgment.''

Minamata disease affects the central nervous system, resulting in paralysis, restricted vision and sometimes death.

Discovered in the 1950s, Minamata disease came to symbolize Japan's relentless postwar push to become an industrial and economic power. Friday's ruling marked the first time the nation's highest court has addressed government responsibility.

At stake was precisely when the government learned that the disease was caused by mercury waste discharged into Minamata Bay by Chisso Corp. and whether it could have taken measures to stop it. Also, the court had to judge whether the government could have prevented the disease spreading among people who ate fish caught in Minamata Bay.

It wasn't until September 1968 that the government officially recognized the disease was the result of mercury poisoning from waste discharged from the Chisso plant. That was 12 years after the first reports were submitted to health authorities in Kumamoto Prefecture of a strange disease.

The lawsuit, filed in stages between 1982 and 1988, initially targeted the state, the prefectural government and Chisso Corp. It was filed by 59 people who were not officially recognized as Minamata disease patients by the government.

The plaintiffs were people who had eventually relocated from Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures to the Kansai region and the lawsuit came to be dubbed the ``Minamata Kansai lawsuit.''

In July 1994, the Osaka District Court ruled that the central and prefectural governments were not responsible for failing to prevent the spread of the disease. Nevertheless, it ordered Chisso Corp. to pay compensation to 42 of the victims. The total came to 276 million yen and the individual sums ranged from 3.5 million yen to 8.5 million yen.

In April 2001, the Osaka High Court held the central and prefectural governments responsible for the suffering of 45 of the plaintiffs and Chisso Corp. responsible for 51 of the victims. It ordered total compensation of 319.5 million yen.

While Chisso decided not to appeal to the Supreme Court, the central government and Kumamoto Prefecture did.

Justice Hiroharu Kitagawa of the Supreme Court's second petty bench said Friday the state and the prefecture could have used their powers to prevent the spread of disease. He noted that a government panel had unequivocally reported that the disease was caused by mercury poisoning.

To date, 1,775 people have been recognized by the government as mercury poisoning patients in Kumamoto Prefecture, which makes them eligible for a variety of health benefits as well as medical care. There are 490 such victims in Kagoshima Prefecture and 690 in Niigata Prefecture.

Similar lawsuits were filed by Minamata victims elsewhere, but in those cases the plaintiffs withdrew their court action after the coalition government led by Prime Minister Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama proposed a one-time settlement in 1995.

Under the settlement involving the central government and Chisso Corp., each plaintiff received a lump sum of 2.6 million yen from Chisso Corp. The central government and Kumamoto Prefecture also agreed to pay the medical expenses of people who were not officially recognized as Minamata disease patients.

The government's settlement plan called for the plaintiffs to withdraw their case. Events related to Minamata disease and the Kansai lawsuit

December 1953: The first symptoms surface of what is later recognized as Minamata disease.

May 1956: Outbreak of Minamata disease acknowledged for the first time.

July 1959: Kumamoto University researchers report their organic-mercury-poisoning theory.

November 1959: A health ministry group says organic mercury poisoning is the cause of the strange illnesses.

August 1961: The government confirms that a newborn contracted Minamata disease through its mother's womb.

September 1968: The government officially recognizes Minamata disease as a pollution-linked disease caused by organic mercury from Chisso Corp.

May 1976: Prosecutors indict the former Chisso president and former chief of the Chisso plant in Minamata on charges of professional negligence resulting in death. The Supreme Court finalizes their guilt in February 1988.

October 1982: The first group of patients who relocated to the Kansai region files for damages.

July 1994: The Osaka District Court rules it does not recognize the culpability of state and prefectural government in the spread of the disease.

May 1996: Groups of Minamata disease patients that filed lawsuits accept government-proposed settlements, except for the Kansai plaintiffs.

April 2001: The Osaka High Court holds central and prefectural governments responsible in the Kansai lawsuit.(IHT/Asahi: October 16,2004) (10/16)