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Japan PM Kishida, ministers enjoy 'safe, delicious' Sashimi lunch to demonstrate Fukushima seafood safety

Japan PM Kishida, ministers enjoy 'safe, delicious' Sashimi lunch to demonstrate Fukushima seafood safety

Fumio Kishida

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday (August 29) consumed what he called a "safe and delicious" meal of fish from the Fukushima.

Just days after the process of release of wastewater from the plantinto the Pacific Ocean was started, the Japanese PM invited his ministers to his office for a sashimi lunch made up of seafood caught from the contentious Fukushima Prefecture.

This move as per Reuters was aimed at supporting Fukushima Prefecture's seafood industry as China banned all seafood after the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Sashimi lunch

In a move aimed at demonstrating confidence in the safety of the region's seafood and encourage support for the struggling industry, Kishida, along with Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister In Charge of Policies Related to Children Masanobu Ogura, and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, enjoyed a meal that included flounder, sea bass, and octopus sashimi sourced from Fukushima's waters.

A video clip of Kishida enjoying the meal was published on social media by his office.

The clip featuring cheery music shows the Japanese PM saying, "This is very good," as he chews on a slice of flounder sashimi.

He then calls on viewers to enjoy "safe and delicious" Japanese seafood and support the northeastern region.

Concerns over Fukushima seafood

The move was aimed at pacifying concerns over the safety of seafood from Fukushima Prefecture, and promote products from the area that 12 years earlier was devastated by a huge earthquake and a Tsunami.

Even before the recent release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean, there were concerns. However, this has exacerbated worries about the reputation of Japanese seafood, both domestically and internationally.

The release of the treated water, which has undergone filtration to remove most radioactive elements except for tritium, is part of the decommissioning process of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. This process, as per AFP, will happen over decades and will release water equivalent to more than 500 Olympic swimming pools.