Exploring the possibilities of visual anthropology for Minamata Disease Disaster: Based on Tsuchimoto Noriaki's Films

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26580148
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology
• Research Institution: Kumamoto University
• Principal Investigator: KEIDA Katsuhiko 熊本大学, 人文社会科学研究部, 教授 (10195620)
• Research Collaborator: 丸山 定巳 熊本大学, 名誉教授 ; ARIMA SUMIO 熊本大学, 学術資料調査研究推進室員 ; TOGASHI SADAO 熊本大学, 名誉教授 ; TAKAMINE TAKESHI 熊本日日新聞, 論説主幹 ; KAMURO YUMI 熊本大学, 特定事業教員 ; SHIMODA KENTAROU お茶の水女子大学, PD ; JOSHUA RICARD 熊本大学, グローバル教育カレッジ ; SIMONE GRASSI , 映像作家 ; TAKAHASHI SHINNOSUKE 熊本大学, 大学院先導機構 ; MUKAI YOSHITO 熊本保健科学大学 ; AKUTAGAWA JIN , 写真家 ; MATSUNAGA YUKA 熊本大学, 大学院・社会文化科学研究科 ; TAGUCHI YUKA 熊本大学, 大学院・社会文化科学研究科
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 映像人類学 / 水俣病事件 / 土本典昭 / 水俣病関連映像 / 水俣病関連写真 / 芥川仁 / 写真と人類学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research has produced the following fruitful results: 1) This research examined Tsuchimoto Noriaki's documentary films about methylmercury poisoning (“Minamata Disease”) using visual anthropological approaches, and has created an anthropological commitment to the “Minatata Disease Disaster" through examining the rich visual images related to “Minamata Disease” such as the films of Tsuchimoto's and the photography of Eugene Smith's. 2) Part of Tsuchimoto's original audio tapes related to his famous films such as “Minamata: the Victims and Their Worlds" were collected by our research group at Kumamoto University. Through analyzing these materials this research has made a great contribution to both visual anthropology and to “Minamata Disease” Studies. 3) The research leader incorporated both young and international scholars into this research, and created a Kumamoto University based research organization that will further develop international anthropological studies.

Free Research Field

文化人類学