2022 Skipping Stones Honor Awards Recipient | 2021 NCTAsia Freeman Award Honorable Mention The true story of how one Japanese village suffered and survived the mercury poisoning of its waters. A powerful graphic novel/manga that tells the story of "Minamata disease," a debilitating and sometimes fatal condition caused by the Chisso chemical factory's careless release of methylmercury into the waters of the coastal community of Minamata in southern Japan. First identified in 1956, it became a hot topic in Japan in the 1970s and 80s, growing into an iconic struggle between people versus corporations and government agencies. This struggle is relevant today, not simply because many people are still living with the disease but also because, in this time of growing concern over the safety of our environment—viz. Flint, Michigan—Minamata gives us as a very moving example of such human-caused environmental disasters and what we can do about them. The event is also the subject of the 2020 Andrew Levitas directed Johnny Depp film, Minamata. ” According to Publisher’s Weekly: “Over the past five years, the North American graphic novel market has welcomed a wave of new readers and grown from about $805 million in sales in 2012 to more than $1 billion in 2017.” According to comicbook.com May 2019: “Manga sales are growing year over year even today. The trend began back in 2013 and has continued well through the last year. As such, the gross revenue of manga has risen by about 7.2% between 2017 to 2018 with shonen bringing in the bulk of money.” “Not only is the sale of manga on a rise in North America, but the report reveals that about 25% of the entire graphic novel market belongs to manga in the United States.” Statistics on Eco Activism groups According to Wikipedia there are 150 active Eco Activism groups in the US. Some of the biggest include: The Sierra Club: 1.3 million members World Wildlife Fund: 5 million members Greenpeace: 2.5 million members Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): 1.2 million members