Foreign Ministry Receives 500 Crank Calls Likely Made from China over Treated Water

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:01 JST, August 31, 2023

The Foreign Ministry has received about 500 crank phone calls, believed to have originated from China, regarding treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, its press secretary Hikariko Ono said Wednesday.

The ministry received such calls that were made to its main number on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. TEPCO began the discharge of treated water into the ocean on Aug. 24.

“The number [of crank calls] has fallen this week, but such calls have continued to come in intermittently,” Ono said at a press conference. “This is extremely regrettable and concerning.”