Minamata is a city situated in the Kumamoto Prefecture of Japan. Located on the west coast of the island of Kyūshū, the city faces the Amakusa islands.
The municipality was originally established as a village in 1889 and was later re-designated as a town in 1912. It officially achieved city status in 1949. As of March 2017, Minamata has an estimated population of 25,310 residents living within a total area of 162.88 square kilometers, resulting in a population density of approximately 160 persons per square kilometer.