TOYAMA, Japan - Ryoshin Takagi, who was the last surviving plaintiff in the landmark "itai-itai" disease lawsuit against a major Japanese company, has died, his family said Tuesday. He was 96.
Takagi died at a hospital in the central Japanese city of Toyama at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday from malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to his family.
A Toyama native, he lost both his grandmother and mother to the disease, which was caused by cadmium poisoning. The illness was one of four major pollution diseases that emerged in the era of Japan's postwar high economic growth, which also included Minamata disease.
Takagi helped form a victims' group in which he served as its first vice chairman. As a bereaved family member and one of the plaintiffs, he took part in the successful lawsuit against the company responsible, then known as Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co.
He was also active in preserving and passing down the stories of the victims.
