Japan's persistent push for nuclear contaminated water discharge to Fukushima fishing industry practitioners: out of indignation, they have no choice but to surf in their spare time | Japan | Water discharge to Fukushima

Japanese media recently widely predicted that after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to the United States and return to China, a cabinet meeting will be held in the near future to determine the specific discharge date, and the discharge may start at the end of this month or early September. The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company have repeatedly promised not to discharge nuclear contaminated water without the understanding of fisheries practitioners. As the day of discharge from the sea approaches, Fukushima fishing industry practitioners express their frustration and helplessness.

Haruo Ono, who is over seventy years old, lives in Shinji cho in the northern part of Fukushima Prefecture. His family has been fishing for generations, and he still goes fishing with his three sons. Ono believes that the ocean is a huge living organism and the lifeline of generations of Fukushima fishermen who have lived by the sea. The issue of pollution discharge cannot be left to Japanese politicians to make arbitrary decisions.

Fukushima Prefectural fisherman Haruhiro Ono: If a person can live for a hundred years, it's already long. It's just a fleeting moment on Earth. The earth has been around for hundreds of millions of years. We can't pollute the sea. The sea is not human, but the place where fish live. We live here and cannot leave because we are fishermen, and the sea is where we work. The sea is not just ours, nor is it just for the Japanese, but for the people of all countries around the world. Fish is also for everyone, and politicians cannot make decisions casually.

Practitioners in the seafood processing, sales, and transportation industry in Fukushima are also concerned. They said that ten years of perseverance did not bring about an endless dark future.

Fukushima Prefecture seafood processor Hideki Ishii: It took us ten years to gradually recover to the current situation. If we really want to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea, we will have to go back to the original point. This concern is very strong, and it feels like it may kill us. We have always opposed it, but the government has turned a deaf ear to our voices, and we are very indignant.

Fukushima Prefecture resident: While saying they don't know how to discharge into the sea, they are preparing for it. This is really contradictory.

For many local people in Fukushima, restoring their lives to their former selves may be their greatest wish, but the sea reclamation plan has made the realization of their wish distant.

Fukushima residents: No place to talk about the pain of their homes being destroyed

In the twelve years since the Fukushima nuclear accident, the people of Fukushima have experienced and endured too much. More and more Fukushima residents are coming forward to accuse the Japanese government and express their anger.

73 year old Grandma Yoshida lives with 10 cats. Their home is located in the Kotaka area of Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, less than 20 kilometers away from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in a straight line. After the Fukushima nuclear accident, Grandma Yoshida left her hometown for refuge. Five years later, when she returned to her homeland, she found that many pets were abandoned when their owners sought refuge away from home. Since then, Grandma Yoshida has started to rescue and adopt abandoned small animals in the local area.

Fukushima Prefectural Citizen Miyako Yoshida: Those who suffered serious harm in the nuclear accident were vulnerable groups, but animals were more vulnerable than humans.

Grandma Yoshida said that the announcement by the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea is completely self explanatory. As a native of Fukushima, there is no place to express the pain of their home being destroyed.

Fukushima Prefectural Citizen Miyako Yoshida: Fukushima Prefectural residents have not agreed to discharge into the sea because we have no other place to go. We hope they do not discharge into the sea. Nuclear contaminated water containing a large amount of radioactive isotopes will be discharged for thirty to forty years. We live near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, how can we just silently watch like this?

Kenichi Zhoube, 54 years old, has been running a surfing supplies store in Iwaki City, southern Fukushima for 25 years and is also a surfing coach. Zhou Bu said that after the nuclear accident, due to concerns about nuclear radiation, the number of people surfing in the area decreased significantly, making it difficult to sustain his business. He had to work part-time as a construction worker.

Fukushima Prefectural Iwaki City Surfing Supplies Store Manager Kenichi Shobu: Once nuclear contaminated water is discharged into the sea, the number of surfers will inevitably decrease, and business will only become more difficult. Perhaps I can only go to the construction site again to work.

Iwaki City, with a coastline of 60 kilometers facing the Pacific Ocean, was once a surfing destination in Japan. After the nuclear accident, the scene of overcrowding during the peak tourist season in the local area is gone forever. The news that nuclear contaminated water is about to be discharged into the sea has made people even more anxious and uneasy.

Surfing enthusiasts in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan: As a surfing enthusiast and Fukushima resident, I firmly oppose the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea.

Customer of Iwaki City Surfing Supplies Store in Fukushima Prefecture: The nuclear contaminated water is not caused by what the local people in Fukushima did wrong. It is clearly due to the inadequate measures taken by Tokyo Electric Power Company, but the most direct victim of the discharge into the sea is still us. I am very angry about this.

Fukushima Prefectural Iwaki City Surfer: Japan claims that nuclear contaminated water is safe everywhere, but the truth cannot be verified. Discharging into the sea has an impact on future generations, and I firmly oppose it.