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Japan resumes seafood exports to China 2
years after Fukushima wastewater release
[November 07, 2025]
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
TOKYO (AP)
Japan announced Friday that its seafood exports have resumed for the
first time since China imposed a ban over the discharge of treated
radioactive wastewater from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant more than two years ago. |
In this March 23, 2011 file photo, various types of fish are sold at a
shop near the Tsukiji Fish Market, one of the world's largest fish
markets, in Tokyo, after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled a
nuclear facility, 140 miles (220 kilometers) north of Tokyo, seeping
radiation into the soil and seawater nearby. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man,
File) |
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Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters that 6
metric tons (6.6 tons) of scallops harvested in Hokkaido were
shipped to China on Wednesday, the first shipment to that
country since Beijing banned all Japanese seafood in August
2023.
Beijing announced in June that it would ease the ban and prepare
for the resumption of imports, following repeated negotiations
between the two sides.
The wastewater discharges from the Fukushima Daiichi plant
debated for years at home over concern about the reputational
damage to the region and its local produce had also become a
major political issue between Japan and its neighbors, including
China and South Korea.
The ban was a major blow to Japan's seafood industry, especially
scallop and sea cucumber exports. China was the biggest overseas
market for Japanese seafood.
The government takes the development as a positive move,
Kihara said as he called on China to continue to re-register
pending applications for Japanese seafood exporters.
A ban remains in place for seafood from Fukushima and nine
nearby prefectures, which China imposed immediately after the
plant's meltdowns.
Kihara said Japan will also continue to urge Beijing to lift the
remaining bans and resume importing Japanese beef.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant suffered triple meltdowns following
a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, causing massive leaks
of radioactive wastewater into the basements of the reactor
buildings that need to be collected and stored in tanks.
The utility won Japanese government approval and support from
the International Atomic Energy Agency for the gradual release
of the water into the sea after treatment and dilution. The step
is to make space to build facilities needed for the ongoing
decommissioning, while avoiding accidental spillage of the
wastewater from the tanks.
Japanese officials said the impact of the wastewater to the
environment and humans would be negligible and the IAEA
comprehensive report later confirmed that the discharges meet
international safety standards.
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