A year after Japan started its ocean discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japanese citizens have gathered in Tokyo to protest the irresponsible move, while criticizing the Japanese government for shifting the blame for the negative impact on domestic seafood's reputation onto other countries.

Holding banners and flags bearing slogans such as "Don't Dump Nuclear-Contaminated Water into the Ocean" and "Don't Throw Trash into the Sea," protesters chanted in unison, "We must not become the perpetrators of a nuclear disaster" and "Protect the future," urging the government to stop the harmful act of releasing contaminated water into the ocean.

The protest organized by Japanese civil groups was held on Saturday, a year after Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant's operator, officially began discharging nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, a move that has sparked widespread domestic and international concern and opposition.

Japan has conducted eight releases to date, with a total volume of approximately 63,000 tonnes of contaminated water discharged over the past year, while multiple safety incidents at the crippled plant throughout the year have triggered growing concern and doubt among the local population.

Over the year, the Fukushima Daiichi plant has experienced numerous safety incidents, including workers being splashed with contaminated water, leaks of several tonnes of radioactive water, multiple power outages, and the recent cancellation of a planned removal of nuclear fuel debris due to human error, highlighting TEPCO's poor management and the Japanese government's inadequate oversight.

Toshihiro Inoue, the leader of the protest, said the irresponsible handling by the Japanese government and TEPCO has only deepened public mistrust, and they must stop discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean.

Among the protesters on Saturday was Mika Sakaguchi, a victim of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. "After the nuclear leak, I lost my home," she told Xinhua, explaining that her house was demolished due to radiation contamination.

Sakaguchi noted that many fishermen in Fukushima are still living in anxiety and worry, and that the government's forced discharge of contaminated water without convincing explanations has been met with strong opposition from the local population.

Last October, TEPCO began compensating those in the fishing and seafood industries who suffered losses due to the discharge of contaminated water. As of July this year, TEPCO had received approximately 550 compensation claims but approved only 180. Many industry workers have been unable to prove that their economic losses are directly related to the water discharge, leaving them frustrated and distressed.

Sakaguchi criticized the Japanese government for its slow progress in compensating those affected in the fishing and seafood industries while aggressively promoting the narrative that other countries' restrictions have damaged the reputation of Japanese seafood, arguing that this is "a misdirection of blame."

The real perpetrators are the Japanese government and TEPCO, while the victims are Japanese fishermen and neighboring countries including China, Sakaguchi said, adding that the government's evasive tactics have led to a loss of public trust.

Hit by a magnitude-9 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear plant suffered core meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.

The plant has been generating a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel in the reactor buildings, which is now stored in tanks at the nuclear plant.

In August 2023, Japan started to discharge the wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, despite repeated objections by governments and communities, environmental groups, non-governmental organizations, and anti-nuclear movements in Japan and the Pacific region.

(Cover: The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, August 18, 2024. /CFP)