Japan has resumed seafood exports to China for the first time since Beijing imposed a blanket ban over the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant more than two years ago.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Friday that six metric tons of scallops harvested in Hokkaido were shipped to China on Wednesday — the first consignment since the import ban was introduced in August 2023.
The move comes after months of negotiations between the two countries. Beijing announced in June that it would gradually ease the restrictions and allow seafood imports to resume.
The wastewater release from Fukushima — a long-debated and politically sensitive issue — had sparked strong opposition from Japan’s neighbors, particularly China and South Korea, over food safety and environmental concerns.
The ban dealt a heavy blow to Japan’s seafood sector, which relied heavily on the Chinese market, especially for scallops and sea cucumbers. “The government views the resumption as a positive step,” Kihara said, urging Beijing to continue re-registering pending export applications for Japanese seafood producers.
However, restrictions remain in place for seafood from Fukushima and nine surrounding prefectures, which were immediately affected after the 2011 nuclear disaster. Kihara added that Tokyo will continue pressing China to lift the remaining bans and also resume imports of Japanese beef.
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China would strictly manage Japanese seafood imports “in accordance with laws and regulations to ensure public food safety” and warned that any risks would trigger the immediate reimposition of restrictions.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant suffered triple meltdowns following a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, which led to radioactive water leaks. Japan’s nuclear regulator and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) later approved the controlled release of treated wastewater into the sea, saying the environmental and human health impacts would be negligible and consistent with global safety standards.