Six personal tales of life in the wake of Fukushima’s nuclear wastewater release
Twelve years after a deadly earthquake damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan started releasing the radioactive wastewater from the facility into the ocean at exactly 12 p.m. Beijing time (13 p.m. Tokyo time) on August 24, 2023, despite objections from China and other countries. The impact of this long-debated decision, officially announced on August 22, was immediately felt by many Chinese people living along the coast of the East China Sea. Panic buying of salt occurred in some areas, while sales of seafood and Japanese cuisine plummeted. Some Japanese food lovers rushed to enjoy what could be their “last Japanese meal” on August 23, one day before China’s General Administration of Customs imposed a temporary ban on importing aquatic products from Japan.
Shao Yefan is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese. She writes articles about economic and political changes in Chinese society, especially how these affect normal people’s lives. She is particularly interested in the impact of international events like the Olympic Games on Chinese society.
Tan Yunfei is the editorial director of The World of Chinese. She reports on Chinese language, food, traditions, and society. Having grown up in a rural community and mainly lived in the cities since college, she tries to explore and better understand China's evolving rural and urban life with all readers.
Yang Tingting is a Chinese editor at The World of Chinese. Interested in telling Chinese stories, she writes mainly about culture, language, and society.
