Last month, China’s imports of Japanese marine products were found to have plummeted by about 70% in one year. This is interpreted as the aftermath of China imposing a total embargo on Japanese seafood after Japan discharged contaminated water (treated water in Japanese name) from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on the 24th of last month.

On the 18th, China’s General Administration of Customs announced that the total amount of marine products imported from Japan in August was 149.02 million yuan (about 27 billion won), a 67.6% decrease from the same period last year. China’s imports of Japanese seafood, which had decreased by 28.5% in July when Japan was weighing the timing of discharging Fukushima contaminated water, increased significantly with the start of discharge. China has been strengthening quarantine on Japanese seafood since early July in opposition to Japan’s plan to discharge contaminated water. The Asahi Shimbun reported that imports are expected to converge to almost zero in September, which is expected to be affected by China’s total embargo on Japanese seafood throughout the month.

According to Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the amount of marine products Japan exported to China last year was about 87.1 billion yen (about 781.2 billion won), and China is the largest market, accounting for about 20% of Japan’s seafood exports. It is reported that China’s imports of Japanese marine products from February to June this year also exceeded last year. As the situation changed rapidly after the discharge of contaminated water, the Japanese government is rushing to prepare countermeasures, such as providing a new support fund worth 20.7 billion yen (about 180 billion won) and setting up a counseling center for its fishermen.

However, as there is no prospect of a political settlement between the two countries yet, there is a possibility that the situation may prolong, and a blow to the Japanese fishing industry seems inevitable despite various support measures. On the 6th, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with Prime Minister Li Chang in Jakarta, Indonesia, and requested the withdrawal of the embargo, but this was not accepted and discussions continue in parallel. A survey conducted by the Japan Fisheries Agency this month showed that prices of seafood are on the decline across the country, including Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, and Miyazaki prefectures.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, after the discharge메이저사이트 of contaminated water, processing or cooking of Japanese marine products was effectively banned in China. Japanese restaurants in China are rapidly replacing Japanese ingredients with domestically produced or other foreign products due to the authorities’ strengthened inspection of food ingredients.

A Japanese restaurant in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China, is said to have lost about 30% in sales after releasing contaminated water. The owner of this restaurant told the Asahi Shimbun, “There is a strong atmosphere of avoiding not only Japanese products but also seafood itself. “I thought I could live comfortably after the zero-corona policy was finally over, but it’s like this again and it’s really hard,” he said, complaining of pain.