Photo/Illutration Yoshihisa Takeshi, an innkeeper in Kita-Ibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture, exports "anko nabe" (anglerfish hot pot) and "an-kimo" (anglerfish liver) ramen to Hong Kong. (Morio Choh)

Local government officials expressed concerns and outrage over plans to release treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, while some businesses say they are already suffering from the negative effects.

“The central government should take all possible measures and fulfill its responsibility so businesses in Fukushima can keep going for generations to come,” Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori told economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura at the prefectural government office on Aug. 22.

The leaders of two municipalities that will be directly affected by the water-release plan were also present at the meeting.

“(The project) requires a firm commitment,” said Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa after the meeting.

Okuma Mayor Jun Yoshida said, “Many residents of my town think we can’t keep building (tanks to store the treated water).”

The stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant straddles the border between the two towns.

Hiroyuki Uchida, mayor of the neighboring city of Iwaki, had harsher words for Tokyo.

“It is unacceptable that the government pushes ahead with the water release despite the fact that it hasn’t gained enough understanding from relevant parties,” Uchida said.

The government’s announcement on Aug. 22 that it will start releasing the water into the sea as early as Aug. 24 also cast a shadow over fishery and tourism sectors in neighboring prefectures.

Seafood processing company Maruta, based in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, received bad news on the morning of Aug. 22.

A buyer from the Nagoya Central Wholesale Market asked the company to stop shipping whitebait caught off Ibaraki and Fukushima prefectures.

Another customer, from Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market, said China and Hong Kong will no longer import ark shells from Miyagi Prefecture.

South of Fukushima, Yoshihisa Takeshi, owner of the Marumitsu Ryokan inn in Kita-Ibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture, said he fears consumers will again avoid seafood from the area, including anglerfish, a specialty of the prefecture and his business.

“The water release could make our customers think twice about their plans and cancel their reservations,” Takeshi said. “Will we be eligible for government compensation if they cancel without specifying a reason?”

Takeshi opened an outlet in Hong Kong in November last year after signing a three-year franchise arrangement with a local Japanese restaurant.

By the end of June, he had sold about 12 million yen’s ($82,000) worth of anglerfish dishes.
But one of his business partners later told him things were not going well in Hong Kong, and that his shop there may have to close.

The Hong Kong government opposed Japan’s water-discharge plan, and it banned imports of fisheries products from 10 regions, including Ibaraki and Fukushima prefectures, on Aug. 22.

Fish wholesalers in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, are also concerned about the water discharge.

After the water-release plan was floated, 160 wholesalers in Choshi formed an association in 2020 to negotiate with the government.

“Having just emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, the fishery industry here would not survive reputational damages (caused by the water release),” the president of the association said.

Choshi port boasted the largest catches by volume in Japan for 12 consecutive years until last year.

Wholesalers in the area were not eligible for compensation following the 2011 nuclear accident because the port was located too far away from the Fukushima plant.

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