The Minamata Bay Incident, also known as Minamata Disease, was the largest and most tragic case of industrial pollution on record in history. In the late 1950s, the consequences of the discharge of methylmercury into the ocean following the formation of acetaldehyde were not taken into account by the Japanese authorities at the Chisso Corporation chemical plant. As a result, methylmercury-infected water was absorbed by marine life and caused significant food poisoning when consumed by the Japanese, ranging from serious neurological illnesses (Yorifuji et al., 2008), to speech impediments and, in some cases, death. The severity of the disease has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians, and as compensation, those responsible for the outbreak have offered payments to grieving families who fell victim to this horrible disease. The outbreak resumed in 1965, this time in the Agano River basin in Niigata, causing the same symptoms as the previous outbreak, but this time the number of civilians affected was greatly reduced. It was recently reported, in March 2001, that the official death toll from the disease stood at 1,785 and that Chisso Corporation had compensated $86 million for families affected by the disease. In May 2006, a memorial service was held to mark 50 years since the discovery and the past left behind by Minamata disease. The consequences of Minamata disease took a toll on the Japanese people, claiming many lives and rendering some of its victims permanently disabled. This is highlighted in the article titled “Minamata Disease” written by K. Murata and M. Sakamoto, published in the “Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences Reference Module, 2013”. The...... middle of paper...... along Minamata Bay where all kinds of horrific cases were exposed, such as neurological illnesses, comas, and in some cases, death. Based on the cases discussed above by various authors, it is evident that the most tragic industrial pollution that is Minamata Bay carries a dark story in history, claiming many innocent lives, where methylmercury is manifested in various forms, making it an environmental tragedy. Due to the ignorance and negligence of the officials responsible for the methylmercury spill, symptoms such as visual impairment, loss of motor skills, and mental retardation were presented to people with a very poor history of illness. The prevalence of this outbreak could have been stopped by Japanese authorities, but failure to detect the poisoning at an early stage allowed the disease to manifest itself to both the Japanese people and the ecosystem..