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On April 12, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano paid a visit to the SL Square in front of Shinbashi station in Tokyo, to support the efforts of “’Ganbappe Iwaki!’ The All Japan Caravan” to emphasise the safety of local produce from Iwaki, a city in Fukushima Prefecture. He emphasized that “only safe products are on sale in the shops” and called on shoppers to support the producers of Iwaki.
The aim of the caravan is to promote the safety of agricultural products from Iwaki following the accident at Fukushima Number 1 nuclear power plant. Although agricultural produce from Iwaki meet national food hygiene legislation standards, the spread of unfounded rumours has made it difficult for local producers to ship their produce and caused prices to fall. The motivation of producers has fallen, and the farming, forestry and fisheries industries in Iwaki face difficult times. In order to promote Iwaki’s agricultural produce, and to disperse the unfounded rumours, the government of Iwaki city decided to hold the event in Shinbashi with the wholehearted cooperation of Tokyo’s Minato Ward office and the shop-owners’ association of Shinbashi station building. Strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions and shiitake mushrooms were on sale.
Edano appeared at the venue with Shizuyo Yamazaki (Shizu-chan) of the Nankai Candies comedy duo, and sampled strawberries and tomatoes. He broke into a smile, saying, “this is sweet and delicious” and appealed to the assembled crowd, saying, “products on shop shelves are safe.” After sampling produce he brought some shiitake and rice.
Following this, Edano answered reporters’ questions. He commented, “These are agricultural products that have been grown with devotion, and so they were really delicious. It is truly regrettably that although we can be fully confident in the safety of the produce that is being distributed, it is not selling or else is selling at a reduced price due to unfounded rumours. I feel a renewed resolution for the need for the government to make further efforts in order to put a stop to such rumours.” In particular, he stressed, “From the point of view of food safety we are imposing strict regulations, and so that means that the products on the market are that much safer. Moreover, people around Japan are supporting [the disaster-affected areas] by making donations and volunteering, but if we can widely promote the fact that consuming a variety of products from these areas, starting with agricultural produce, will be a great help, we will be able to gain their active support. I believe that promoting such efforts is the most important thing that the government can do.”
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