Fukushima Contaminated Water Discharge... Half of Japanese Citizens "Positive"

About half of the Japanese public have a positive view of the Japanese government's plan to discharge contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean.

A telephone survey conducted by the local Japanese media outlet Mainichi Shimbun from the 26th to 27th, targeting 1,039 adults aged 18 and over (valid respondents), found that 49% of respondents evaluated the ocean discharge of contaminated water positively. This was 20 percentage points higher than the 29% who evaluated it negatively. Those who answered "don't know" accounted for 22%. This survey is the first conducted after the ocean discharge of contaminated water was implemented.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Begins Discharging Contaminated Water into the Ocean
Photo by Yonhap News

However, regarding whether the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have provided sufficient explanations about the ocean discharge, 60% responded "insufficient," more than twice the 26% who said "sufficient." Mainichi analyzed that "while there is a certain level of understanding among the public about the ocean discharge, there seems to be dissatisfaction with the lack of explanations from the government and TEPCO."

Japan has been discharging about 460 tons (t) of contaminated water diluted with seawater daily since the 24th. The concentration of tritium in the contaminated water at the time of discharge is regulated to be below 1,500 becquerels per liter (ℓ).

Meanwhile, China announced a complete ban on imports of Japanese seafood starting from the 24th in response to the contaminated water discharge. On social media (SNS) within China, posts calling for a boycott of Japanese products have been continuously appearing.

As China's reaction has been serious, the Japanese embassy and consulates in China have urged their nationals in China to exercise caution. On the 25th, the Embassy of Japan in China posted on its website, "When going out, please refrain from speaking Japanese loudly and be mindful of your behavior," and added, "If you need to visit the embassy, please pay close attention to the situation around the embassy."

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