Kishida orders an apology, but the cabinet minister says he slipped the tongue
According to sources, on the 31st, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida demanded an apology from Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Tetsuro Nomura, who accidentally "leaked" and referred to the treated water containing radioactive substances discharged from the Fukushima nuclear power plant as "contaminated water", and demanded that Tetsuro Nomura retract this statement.
Kishida stated on the 31st that he has requested an apology from Tetsuro Nomura and has retracted his remarks. The Japanese government has always claimed that the water it discharges into the ocean is "ALPS treated water" in order to distinguish it from contaminated water stored in tanks around damaged nuclear power plants.
Kishida's approach has caused dissatisfaction among Japanese netizens, with some criticizing it as "polluting water is polluting water. Kishida should not find any more lame excuses.".
According to reports, earlier that day, after a meeting with Kishida, Tetsuro Nomura told reporters that his discussion with Kishida involved an assessment of the discharge of "polluted water" into the Pacific Ocean.
When seeking comment on this, Fumio Kishida claimed on the 31st, "His statement is deeply disappointing. I have instructed Minister Nomura to apologize and retract what he said."
Many Japanese netizens expressed dissatisfaction with Kishida's statement and rhetoric. No matter how the wording is changed, polluted water is still polluted water.
![Kishida orders an apology, but the cabinet minister says he slipped the tongue](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/ec6235fe34d9021805973728811c9a77.jpg)
"Applause for the only Japanese government official who spoke the truth," said a Japanese netizen.
Since the Japanese government insisted on promoting the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea for a week, various sectors in Japan have continued to protest.
According to CCTV News, on the 31st, nine groups related to victims of Minamata disease in Japan held a press conference in Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture and issued a statement demanding that the Japanese government stop discharging contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.
Victims of Minamata disease in Japan hold a press conference. Technical personnel at the former Fukushima nuclear power plant, Chihiro Kokura, stated in an interview that the polluted marine environment cannot be reversed and hopes to terminate the discharge into the sea as soon as possible.
"After the marine environment is polluted, it cannot be reversed. It can be said that discharging into the sea is a serious crime against humanity. Nuclear contaminated water containing radioactive substances has completely different properties from general nuclear industry wastewater. The impact of nuclear contaminated water discharging into the sea on our descendants is unpredictable, so I hope to terminate the discharge as soon as possible," said Shijiro Okakura.