1 mil. ‘Nuisance’ Calls Received at Japanese Embassy in China; Calls Began 2 Months Ago After Start of Fukushima Treated Water

By Akiko Yoshinaga / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

15:44 JST, October 29, 2023

BEIJING — The Japanese Embassy in China has received about 1 million “nuisance” phone calls since the release of treated water about two months ago from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a Japanese government source said Saturday.

Though Japan has asked China to take action against such calls, saying that they have obstructed work at the Japanese Embassy, no effective measures have been implemented.

The highest number of calls received in a day was over 40,000 on Aug. 25, the day after the treated water began to be released.

Currently, the embassy receives 10,000 to 15,000 calls per day. Most of them have been silent, and the embassy has reported the particularly vicious ones to the Chinese public security authorities, according to the source.