Kuala Lumpur: Japan has continued its push to persuade the international community that its waters and seafood are safe, after treated water was released from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean in August.
The move has garnered heavy criticism and food import bans by China and North Korea, but Japan has maintained that the discharged water is safe.
At an event last night, Japan’s fisheries minister Ichiro Miyashita reiterated that Japan’s seafood products are perfectly safe for consumption.
“Japanese people are enjoying seafood without any changes even after the discharge of ALPS-treated water,” said Miyashita, referring to the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s Advanced Liquid Processing System for filtering radioactive materials from water.
“It has been more than one month since ALPS-treated water was first discharged, and the first operation was processed safely without any problem.
“ALPS-treated water is being discharged with all safety precautions taken, and the International Atomic Energy Agency concluded that the radiological impact on humans and the environment is negligible.
“The government of Japan will continue to explain the safety of Japanese fishery products to the international community based on scientific evidence in a sincere and transparent manner.”
The event yesterday saw Japanese cuisine goodwill ambassador chef Naoya Kawasaki serve scallops from Hokkaido, sea cucumbers from Aomori Prefecture and Japanese amberjack from Miyazaki Prefecture, among others.
Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) vice-president Katsunori Nakazawa said that Malaysia is important as a country that has close relations with Japan.
He said that the number of tourists from Malaysia visiting Japan is on the road to recovery, returning to pre-Covid-19 levels.
“In addition, here in Malaysia, there are 427 ‘Japanese Food and Ingredient Supporter Stores’, meaning restaurants and retail stores that serve or sell Japanese food products certified under the guidelines established by Japan’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries ministry,” said Nakazawa.
He said that Japan would continue its efforts to enhance Malaysians’ understanding and interest in Japanese food.
In August, the Malaysian science, technology and innovation ministry said it would install four more gamma spectrum water monitoring stations in Malaysian waters to monitor the possible presence of treated radioactive water.
Minister Chang Lih Kang had said that existing installations in Sabah waters were already monitoring for any increase in radioactive levels in real-time, but no radioactive waste had been detected so far.
