IN the spring or summer of 2021, Japan alarmingly announced that it would release around 1.3 million tons of contaminated water or wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea. This contaminated water has been accumulating at the Fukushima plant after treatment and dilution. These 1.3 million tons of wastewater can fill up around 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Countries in East Asia, like South Korea and China, immediately protested Japan's unilateral decision. But it's not just neighboring countries that have expressed their opposition and resistance to the plan. Even the Japanese people themselves are opposed to it. For instance, the local fisherfolk of Fukushima publicly announced their opposition saying, '... the said plan will undo the years of work rebuilding their industry's reputation since the plant was destroyed and ruined by the huge tsunami in March 2011.'