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Agence France-Presse

Peaches from Fukushima can now be bought at London’s luxury department store Harrods in a Japanese push to ease fears about produce grown in the region hit by a nuclear disaster.
A box of three large, juicy white peaches costs 80 pounds (US$100) – the first time the fruit is available at a shop in Europe, after sales at temporary events.
Before the 2011 atomic meltdown, Fukushima prided itself as a “fruit kingdom”, famous in Japan for its delicious offerings, including peaches, grapes, pears and cherries.
But after an earthquake-triggered tsunami unleashed the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, consumers feared eating them could harm their health and sales plunged.
Although the areas surrounding the stricken Fukushima Daiichi power station were evacuated over radiation fears, farms in the rest of the region were not contaminated.
And before being sent to stores, all farm and fishery products from the northeastern Japanese prefecture now undergoes strict radiation inspection.
Harrods began selling the peaches on Saturday, part of a reputation-building initiative by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the operator of the Fukushima plant.


The company has previously staged campaigns in the United States, Thailand and other major economies to promote rice, farm products and seafood from Fukushima.
“The primary purpose of those activities is to erase fears in foreign markets of Fukushima produce,” a Tepco spokesman said on Tuesday.
An association of Fukushima residents in London hailed the news as a “major step forward” in a Facebook post.
“Many people asked us at Japan festivals, ‘where can we buy these?’” it said.
“Please enjoy the taste of these peaches that Fukushima proudly presents to the rest of the world.”


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Japan

Japan’s Fukushima peaches debut at Harrods, marking milestone since 2011 nuclear disaster

A customer tries peaches from Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, which went on sale at luxury department store Harrods in central London on September 7. Photo: AFP

Fukushima’s radioactive residue: nuclear waste fears cloud Japan coast’s slow rebirth

Haruo Ono, a Fukushima fisherman, opposes the plan to release water from the crippled nuclear plant. Photo: Jonathan Vit

The main street of Namie, a town that formed part of an exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after the 2011 disaster. Photo: AFP

Haruo Ono opposes the plan to release water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Photo: Jonathan Vit

China imposed a ban on Japanese seafood after it started releasing treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company’s tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Photo: EPA-EFE

Fishing communities in Fukushima fear devastating damage to their businesses from the tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant’s ongoing discharge of treated radioactive waste water into the sea. Photo: AP

Ai Kimura, the director of Mothers’ Radiation Lab Fukushima, says the organisation is now testing water collected from beaches in Fukushima. Photo: Jonathan Vit

Japan needs special robots to begin removing nuclear debris from Fukushima nuclear reactor

Reactor buildings of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture. Photo: AP

A Tepco spokesperson shows photos captured by a robotic probe inside one of the three melted reactors at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, on April 4, 2023. Photo: AP

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Tepco workers rearrange pipes for the recovery mission at Fukjushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Photo: Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings via AP

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, northern Japan’s Fukushima prefecture. Photo: Kyodo via AP

Tepco workers rearrange pipes for the recovery mission at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Photo: Tepco via AP

The Unit 2 reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Photo: Kyodo News via AP

Tepco executives watch final procedural checks being carried out from an operation room at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Photo: Tepco via AP

The extendable pipe robot, nicknamed “telesco”, can extend up to about 22 metres into the reactor. Photo: Tepco via AP

A giant protective dome was built over the destroyed nuclear reactor at Chernobyl after its 1986 explosion. But that won’t work at Fukushima, experts say. Photo: AFP

Japan urged to provide earthquake tips to tourists amid surge in travel cancellations

A man at his home destroyed by fire in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture on February 1, one month after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Noto region. Photo: AFP

A collapsed house in Osaki in Kagoshima Prefecture after a strong earthquake hit southwestern Japan on August 8. Photo: Kyodo

A supermarket sign in the Sumida district of Tokyo indicating a limit on bottled water sales after quake-related media reports caused customers to hoard essentials. Photo: AFP

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The fruit is now available at the luxury London department store, in a Japanese push to address safety concerns amid a global campaign to restore trust


The fruit is now available at the luxury London department store, in a Japanese push to address safety concerns amid a global campaign to restore trust.
