The governor of Fukushima Prefecture, Yuhei Sato, said Oct. 12 that all rice grown in the prefecture is safe to eat.
The governor of Fukushima Prefecture, Yuhei Sato, said Oct. 12 that all rice grown in the prefecture is safe to eat.
The prefectural government, which has now completed tests on this fall's rice harvest, said no rice had been detected with levels of radioactive cesium above the safety standard of 500 becquerels per kilogram set by the central government.
In one area, where the level of cesium came close to the maximum, the prefectural government will buy up all available rice and prevent it being shipped as a precaution, but the rest of the 48 municipal areas of the prefecture where rice has been planted can now ship their grain.
That does not include the county of Futaba and other areas where rice planting was prohibited following the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant accident and which, therefore, have had no rice harvest.
The prefectural government started checking rice in the 48 areas in late August, testing rice both before and after harvest.
The post-harvest tests, which did not cover early-harvested crops, were conducted at 1,174 locations. No radioactive cesium was found in rice cultivated at 964 sites, or 82 percent of the locations. In only 203 locations, or 17 percent of all the sites, the rice contained less than 100 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram. Levels of 100 becquerels or more were found at 7 sites, 0.6 percent of the locations surveyed.
In the Obama area of Nihonmatsu, where 500 becquerels per kilogram were recorded in a preliminary test, the results of a post-harvest test came to 470 becquerels. That meant the rice passed the government's safety standard, but the prefectural government will buy up all rice grown in the rice paddy that produced the crop, as well as the crop from two rice fields next to the paddy, to prevent it from being shipped. The area of the three paddies covers about 0.09 hectares.
The prefectural government checked the rice at the request of the central government, which asked 16 other prefectures in east Japan to do the same.
Fukushima is the 15th prefecture to have completed the checks. Tokyo, one of the two remaining prefectures, has six municipal areas that have yet to announce the results. That data is set to be released on Oct. 13.
Saitama Prefecture has three municipal areas that have not produced their results. They are due to publish in early November.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, radiation checks on early-harvested and regular rice had been conducted at 4,029 locations in 17 eastern prefectures as of Oct.12. No radioactive cesium was detected at 3,668 sites, or 91 percent of them.
Despite Sato's declaration of the safety of Fukushima rice, farmers in the prefecture are skeptical about their prospects on the open market.
A 56-year-old farmer in Nihonmatsu said: "Although I am glad that we are allowed to ship rice now, I do not think rice we grew this year will be sold."
The farmer grows mainly Koshihikari brand rice and usually sells nearly half of his harvest directly to retailers in the Tokyo area. This year, customers whom he has supplied for 20 years have not submitted orders.
"Consumers think rice grown in Nihonmatsu is not safe," the farmer said. "Although we proclaim our rice is now officially allowed to be shipped into the market, I suspect they will still stay clear of our crops."
Kiyotaka Iwasawa, head of rice division at the Japan Agricultural Cooperative Association Fukushima, which normally holds promotional events such as tasting parties to promote the fall harvest, said there would only be a "low-key" promotion campaign this year.
Many wholesalers have asked the association to ship only radiation-free rice and it has decided to prioritize rice with radioactive cesium levels of below detectable quantities (5 to 10 becqurels per kilogram).
(This article was compiled from reports by Kanako Miyajima and Ryo Inoue.)