In a similar fashion to the fishermen's associations, the Mutual Aid Society began by petitioning the city and prefectural governments and visited Kumamoto city on 21 November. When their petitions produced no results, the society approached Chisso directly and demanded compensation of JPY234 million (USD650,000) – JPY3 million (USD8,300) per person. On 28 November the company replied that the link between the factory's wastewater and Minamata disease had not been proven and could, therefore, offer them nothing but an expression of sympathy. The society began a sit-in at the company gates, which was to last a whole month.