December 17, 2011
In a rush to fulfill a pledge to the international community to bring the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda may have jumped the gun in his announcement on Dec. 16 declaring the crisis is over.
Noda's declaration has been met with skepticism both in Fukushima Prefecture and abroad, with even some members of his own ruling Democratic Party of Japan criticizing it as "fiction."
Noda's promise at an international conference, shortly after becoming prime minister in September, to bring the Fukushima nuclear accident under control before the end of the year was meant to respond to sustained mistrust of the Japanese government's handling of the situation.
Government orders to stop shipment of produce due to radiation contamination led to negative publicity abroad about Japanese food products.
A total of 44 nations and regions have restricted the imports of Japanese agricultural products and in the extreme case of Kuwait, all food products from every prefecture in Japan has been banned for import.
The negative publicity has also led to a sharp drop in the number of foreign tourists to Japan. In November, there were about 552,000 visitors, a decrease of 13.1 percent compared with November 2010.
Despite doubts even among DPJ lawmakers about whether the situation at the Fukushima plant could be described as being under control, a member of Noda's Cabinet said, "Unless the accident is brought under control, Japan will continue to lose the trust of the world."
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