80% of Japanese Citizens Say Government Explanation on Fukushima Contaminated Water Discharge Is Insufficient

87% Concerned About Rumor Damage Due to Discharge

Regarding the Japanese government's plan to discharge contaminated water from Fukushima into the ocean this summer, it was found that four out of five Japanese citizens feel that the government's explanation is insufficient.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection team is observing the transfer of fish samples collected from the port of Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, in November last year. (Photo by Yonhap News)

Kyodo News reported on the 16th that a public opinion survey conducted among citizens aged 18 and older nationwide showed that 80.3% responded that the Japanese government's explanation about the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was "insufficient." The survey was conducted by phone from the 14th to the 16th.

Only 16.1% responded that the government's explanation was "sufficient." Regarding whether reputational damage (rumor damage) would occur due to the discharge, 15.8% said "significant damage will occur," and 71.6% said "some damage will occur," indicating that 87.4% expressed concerns about harm to fishermen and others.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, previously met with the chairman of the Fukushima Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative Association on the 11th and the chairman of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations on the 14th, promising to take thorough measures against reputational damage; however, fishermen maintained their opposition to the discharge.

The Japanese government promised in writing in 2015 to the Fukushima Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative Association that it would not dispose of the contaminated water without obtaining the understanding of related parties.

In the Kyodo News survey, the approval rating of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet was 34.3%, down 6.5 percentage points from last month's survey. It appears that issues such as the Japanese version of the resident registration card, the "My Number Card," influenced the decline in approval ratings.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.