Press Conferences

Mr. KITAMURA Toshihiro, Press Secretary: I have an announcement on voting at diplomatic missions overseas at the outset.

From today, October 16, voting at diplomatic missions overseas is taking place for the general election of the House of Representatives, the National Review for Judges of the Supreme Court, and the Iwate Prefecture by-election for the House of Councillors.

This will be the 17th time that voting at diplomatic missions overseas has taken place since the system was introduced in 1999, and voting will be held at 231 missions this time.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and diplomatic missions overseas have been striving to publicize overseas voting, and calling on Japanese residents to vote through local Japanese-language newspapers, our websites, consul emails, and other means, to encourage overseas Japanese residents’ active and appropriate participation in elections.

The deadline for voting at diplomatic missions overseas has been decided by each mission separately, with the latest deadline being October 21. Ballot papers received through voting at diplomatic missions overseas will be mailed to the relevant local governmental electoral commission in Japan such that they are delivered by October 27, the voting deadline inside Japan.

MOFA will engage in election-related tasks thoroughly and without omission.

That is all from me at the outset.

NHK, Tanii: I would like to ask about ALPS treated water at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The IAEA announced on its website that it carried out an additional monitoring survey. Please share with us the Government of Japan’s and MOFA’s assessment of the current situation. Please also share your thoughts on how you intend to engage with or address the Chinese side towards resuming imports of Japanese aquatic products?

Press Secretary Kitamura: Regarding the ALPS treated water, based on our September 20 agreement with the IAEA, Japan has engaged in several rounds of concrete coordination with the IAEA towards the implementation of additional monitoring, under the IAEA framework, as soon as possible.

Under such circumstances, as you referred to, the IAEA made an announcement yesterday, October 15. Specifically, the IAEA has been conducting marine monitoring since October 7 and, taking advantage of this opportunity, institutes from the participating countries, namely the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, and China, have collected samples from the water tanks as part of additional monitoring under the IAEA framework.

The IAEA has been leading concrete efforts to conduct the additional monitoring, and the Government of Japan intends to continue to firmly cooperate with the IAEA.

Concerning your other question, on Chinese import restrictions on Japanese aquatic products, Prime Minister Ishiba took the opportunity of the recent Japan-China Summit Meeting, held on October 10 in Laos, to engage Premier of the State Council Li Qiang on the issue.

Building on the “Shared Recognition between Japan and China,” announced on September 20, Japan will continue to call on China to realize the early restoration of imports of Japanese aquatic products.