Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida appeared in a video on Wednesday eating fish from Fukushima to promote products from that region, following Chinese restrictions on discharging water from the damaged nuclear power plant.
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This video posted on social media by the Japanese government shows the leader sitting at a table with three of his ministers and tasting sole, pork, rice, vegetables and fruit from Fukushima, whose reputation Tokyo is trying to defend after its controversial decision.
“It’s very good,” Mr. Kishida said to the camera after taking a bite of sashimi, demanding that these Japanese seafood products are “safe and delicious.”
Japan last week began releasing water into the Pacific Ocean from injections needed to cool damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant since the 2011 tsunami in northeastern Japan.
Many in Japan’s fishing industry have long been concerned about the impact of this decision on the reputation of the country’s seafood.
In response to this operation, confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and assured by Tokyo that it is safe for the environment and human health, China last week suspended all its imports of seafood from Japan.
The Japanese embassy in Beijing and Japanese schools in China became the target of brick and egg throwing, and Tokyo asked its citizens there not to speak Japanese aloud.
Japanese companies also experienced a wave of telephone harassment from Chinese numbers.
Mr. Kishida was scheduled to go to Toyosu, the country’s main seafood market in Tokyo, on Thursday to meet players in the sector and taste Fukushima products again.
Japan has called on China, its top seafood export market, to lift its ban and threatened to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
IAEA Director Rafael Grossi reiterated on Tuesday that water discharged into the sea from the Fukushima power plant was safe.