Paper short abstract:

"Minamata umi no koe" is narrated from the stance of equivalence between human beings and environment. While taking a distance from the tendencies of appreciation she is having in the field of Environmental Literature, I would like to think of a possibility to re-read Ishimure Michiko's works.

Paper long abstract:

"Minamata umi no koe" (the voice of Minamata sea) by Ishimure Michiko (1982) is a work of children's literature illustrated by Maruki Toshi and Maruki Iri, already known for their "Genbaku no zu" (Hiroshima panels). It is a trilogy together with "Hiroshima no pika" (the flash of Hiroshima) by Maruki Toshi and Maruki Iri, and "Okinawa shima no koe" (the voice of Okinawa), collected in a single volume entitled "Kiroku no ehon" (documentary illustrated book). These books, written as a record of the memories of Hiroshima, Minamata and Okinawa, have small children as protagonists, while in "Minamata umi no koe" together with the little girl victim of Minamata disease, a little fox and various monsters appear as main characters. The period in which this work has been written coincides with protestations by the movements of victims asking for compensation for Minamata disease and also with the re-questioning of the method used in mercury sludge disposal plants. In other words, it represents a further development in adding to objections against the violation of human rights, the re-thinking of what human beings should do or should not do to the environment.

The work "Kugai jōdo: Waga Minamatabyō" (sea of suffering and the Pure Land: our Minamata disease), which preceded this, investigated thoroughly the compensation of human victims for the damage they suffered. On the other hand, in narrating to children representing the future, "Minamata umi no koe" chooses to do it from the stance of equivalence between human beings and the environment surrounding human beings. In this paper, while taking a critical distance from the late tendencies of overwhelming appreciation she is having in the field of Environmental Literature, I would like to think of a possibility to re-read Ishimure Michiko's works.