November 2012
‘MINAMATA as Television Archives’ by KOBAYASHI Naoki and NISHIDA Yoshiyuki
Ritsu Yonekura
This is the third installment of an article that presents findings of the “Trial Project on Academic Use of the NHK Archives.” This month the author introduces a dissertation that analyzes NHK’s numerous documentary programs as well as several commercial broadcasters’ programs on “Minamata desease” or “Minamata incident.” The desertion is premised on te public awareness of this issue that television has been deeply involved in the formation of public knowledge and image of “Minamata disease” or “Minamata incident,” that people experienced “Minamata” by watching television and remember “Minamata” as what they saw on television, and that we are not able to discuss or understand the history of “Minamata” without considering the history of relationship between television and “Minamata.” The paper elucidates the fact that a number of programs themed on “Minamata” repeatedly feature the same individuals and use cross-cite and cross-reference each other’s footage. This indicates that the public experience “Minamata” in relation to a time axis, namely a life, of a specific person, and TV images intricately tangle one another to formulate a certain image of “Minamata.” The paper reminds us of that television is deeply involved in people’s experiences and memories and therefore archives play an extremely important role as accumulation of TV programs in the review and revalidation of modern history.