Circuit for Independent Living and Formation of Independence of Fetal and Infantile Minamata Disease Patients

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K02228
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 08020:Social welfare-related
• Research Institution: Kumamoto Gakuen University
• Principal Investigator: Tajiri Masami 熊本学園大学, 公私立大学の部局等, 研究員 (70421336)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 社会福祉学 / 胎児性水俣病 / 小児性水俣病 / 水俣学 / 水俣病 / 障害者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Sixty-seven years have passed since Minamata disease was officially confirmed in 1956, and the patients with fetal and infantile Minamata disease have been aging and facing the challenge of how to lead their lives in the future.
I was able to identify the movements for self-reliance that they are proactively continuing to work on, in order to understand how they could make independent choices and live their lives with dignity, and what life they currently seek for. Consequently, it was clarified, in part, what leads to a life of independence and dignity for the fetal and infantile Minamata disease patients is that they live their lives not under the protection of close relatives, but with care and other means of their own choosing, even when they come to need nursing care.

Free Research Field

社会福祉学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により、胎児性・小児性水俣病患者の自立運動ともいえる活動の軌跡を明確にすることができた。胎児性・小児性水俣病の患者たちの生活実態と苦難に関しての記録でもあることから、現在求める生活の実現、自信と誇りをもち、尊厳をもった生活を送れる環境を構築する上で必要なことであった。また、この成果は、社会福祉学だけでなく、水俣病や公害問題、環境問題を研究するうえで持続可能となる資料として貢献につながるものと考えている。