(30 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo, Japan – 30 May 2025
++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++
1. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press:
“Japan said that China will resume Japanese seafood imports banned two years ago due to worries about Japan’s discharges of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Japan says the two sides met in Beijing this week and that the imports will resume once necessary paperwork is done."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Tokyo, Japan – 31 October 2023
2. Various of fishmonger arranging fish on display at a shop in Tokyo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo, Japan – 30 May 2025
3. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press:
“Japan’s discharges of the treated radioactive water from Fukushima Daiichi that began in August 2023 and China’s ban on Japanese seafood have become a significant political and diplomatic point of tension. The agreement is based on a deal reached by Japan and China last September that Beijing would work toward easing the import ban while joining the International Atomic Energy Agency’s expanded monitoring of the discharges."
AGENCY POOL
ARCHIVE: Iwaki, Japan – 19 October 2023
4. Various of International Atomic Energy Agency scientists observing preparations for fish caught in Fukushima to be sampled
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo, Japan – 30 May 2025
5. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press:
“Japanese officials say that the water is treated and largely diluted with massive amounts of seawater before releasing into the sea to the levels much safer than international standard and there’s negligible impact in humans and in the environment.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Tokyo, Japan – 31 October 2023
6. Various of fishmonger arranging fish on display at a shop in Tokyo
STORYLINE:
China will resume Japanese seafood imports from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a Japanese minister said on Friday.
Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the agreement was reached after officials met in Beijing and the imports will resume once paperwork is complete.
China said talks this week made “substantial progress,” but did not confirm an agreement with Japan on the issue that has been a significant political and diplomatic point of tension.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya also welcomed the move.
But officials said China’s ban on farm and fisheries products from 10 Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, is still in place and that they will keep pushing toward their lifting.
China’s General Administration of Customs said in a statement on Friday that the two sides held "a new round of technical exchanges on the safety issues of Japanese aquatic products … and achieved substantial progress,” but did not mention an agreement.
China blocked imports of Japanese seafood because it said the release of the treated and diluted but still slightly radioactive wastewater would endanger the fishing industry and coastal communities in eastern China.
Japanese officials have said the wastewater will be safer than international standards and its environmental impact will be negligible.
They say the wastewater must be released to make room for the nuclear plant’s decommissioning and to prevent accidental leaks.
Tokyo and Beijing held three rounds of talks since March on the issue before reaching the agreement this week on the “technical requirements” necessary for Japanese seafood exports to China to restart, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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