Press Conference by Prime Minister Ishiba regarding His Visit to Fukushima Prefecture and Other Matters

(On what Prime Minister Ishiba felt upon completing observation tours of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Company and also of the towns of Futaba and Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture and seeing the locations for himself; on Prime Minister Ishiba's reaction to the current state of Fukushima's reconstruction, 13 and a half years since the earthquake disaster struck, and on measures that will be taken in the future)

We have been working under the principle of, "Without the reconstruction of Fukushima, there will be no reconstruction of Tohoku. And without the reconstruction of Tohoku, there will be no revival of Japan." It has now been 13 years and 9 months since the accident occurred. I personally have come to Fukushima and visited these locations several times, in fact many times, since the accident happened. That being the case, I wanted to see them with my own eyes now that I am in the role of prime minister.

As for recent affairs, there have been some unprecedented developments, namely ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) treated water and the removal of a portion of the nuclear fuel debris, so I have been particularly eager to see the situation for myself. The Minister for Reconstruction and I have made this visit, and we have been guided around. The governor of Fukushima has also accompanied us and I appreciate that very much.

From now we will begin full-scale decommissioning operations as part of the third term of the Mid- and Long-Term Roadmap. I recognize these decommissioning operations as unprecedented anywhere in the world as well as extremely difficult technically. Since we will be taking on the challenge of something never done before, I expect that we will encounter various stumbling blocks. I ask that the operations be undertaken with safety as the topmost priority, as we always strive to do. As the decommissioning operations involve a very large number of people, a great many of whom are from the local area, I hope most sincerely for safety in these operations.

I also visited the Interim Storage Facility [for removed soil and waste]. In addition, I observed the situation regarding the storage of removed soil and efforts to carry out demonstration projects for recycling removed soil as fill and embankments for roads. I am well aware that it was a very weighty decision, and indeed an agonizing decision, for the towns of Okuma and Futaba and for Fukushima Prefecture [to agree to the building of] the Interim Storage Facility. I wish to express my most sincere appreciation, which I conveyed earlier today as well.

Progress is being made overall in the transport and storage of removed soil from within Fukushima Prefecture, thanks to the efforts of a tremendous number of people thus far. In order to achieve the final disposal of removed soil outside Fukushima prefecture within 30 years after this interim storage commences, specifically by March 2045, it will be critically important to somehow reduce the total disposal volume.

Now as we lay the groundwork regarding where we should request to be the recipients of removed soil for recycling and the way we should make the requests, we are planning to undertake this by organizing a system in which the Government acts as a single entity.

I also toured the difficult-to-return-to zone of Futaba.

Although until now we have been moving forward in lifting evacuation orders one after another, there are still some places where even now residents are unable to return. It will soon be 2025. There is a system known as the Specified Living Areas for Returnees. Throughout the 2020s, we will make use of this system to advance our efforts that will enable us to lift evacuation orders, including decontamination and preparation of infrastructure, so that residents who wish to return are all able to return.

Today I visited a company named Asanonenshi. Working at this company are people who are not initially from this area but moved here after the nuclear accident; others are originally from this area. Young people also work here. The company was established here in response to an exceptionally enthusiastic invitation. The situation of this company, and also its truly scrumptious café, really brightened my day. The spaghetti, the curry, and the soft-serve ice cream were all remarkably delicious.

They say the shop will also begin exporting to overseas customers soon. Their towels were a revolutionary product with explosive sales. I could feel once again that there are some genuinely encouraging stories, and I was truly thankful for that. I've heard that from now a supermarket and a hotel will be opening up. I am really pleased to have seen so much movement that will lead to revitalizing shopping areas and the community as a whole.

As a final point, the basic policy for reconstruction and its funding for the next period will, naturally, require a response over the medium to long term. I believe that over the next five years, we need to press forward further in enabling evacuees to return to their hometowns, in restoring living environments, and in reviving occupations and livelihoods, among other initiatives, while laying out the course forward towards realizing decommissioning and the final disposal of removed soil and other waste. The next five years will be an absolutely critical period for resolving such kinds of issues. Accordingly, I believe it is necessary for us to secure the fiscal resources for promoting reconstruction measures, surpassing what we have achieved over the last five years.

Fukushima still faces severe local realities and issues that need to be overcome. We will secure adequate funding for reconstruction projects to be advanced by Fukushima Prefecture, the governor of Fukushima and other prefectural authorities, and municipalities, all of whom regard these issues as their own. After securing that funding, we will work to make the overall scale of projects over the next five years comfortably surpass that of these past five years.

We must never let the memory of this disaster fade away. The Minister for Reconstruction visited Fukushima again today. With the Reconstruction Agency continuing to serve as the control tower and with our ongoing determination to have the entirety of the cabinet acting as ministers for reconstruction, I intend to take responsibility for the reconstruction of Fukushima, one of the highest priority issues for the Ishiba Cabinet, all the way through to a successful conclusion, carefully considering the sensitivities of the disaster victims. I will do this to a greater degree than ever before.

My response became somewhat lengthy, but I will end my remarks here.

(On how Prime Minister Ishiba will ensure funding after the end of the second reconstruction and revitalization period and on how the Prime Minister will advance discussions towards accelerating final disposal of removed soil outside Fukushima Prefecture by 2045 in light of media reports that a Ministerial Council on the Final Disposal of Removed Soil Outside Fukushima Prefecture will be set up in response to concerns within the prefecture that a large number of issues facing reconstruction remain unresolved, such as the decommissioning of the nuclear reactors, the final disposal of removed soil outside Fukushima Prefecture, and the lifting of evacuation orders in evacuation zones, and concerns over the review of Fukushima Reconstruction Acceleration Grants)

Although I will end up repeating what I said a little earlier, this is an important area, so I will state the same points again.

The next five years will be an extremely important period for resolving the issues facing reconstruction, so we intend to secure the financial resources necessary to promote reconstruction measures even more vigorously than we did the last five years.

There are reconstruction projects being undertaken by the Fukushima Prefectural authorities and the municipalities, who regard as their own issues the still-harsh reality of the local areas and the various challenges to be overcome. My stance is that after we secure adequate funding, I intend for us to bring the overall scale of those projects in the next five years to a scale sufficiently surpassing that of the last five years.

As for the policy of final disposal of removed soil and waste outside Fukushima Prefecture within 30 years from the start of the Interim Storage Facility -- in other words, by March 2045 – I am not simply stating our determination to do this; it is a responsibility of the nation stipulated in law. As for working to realize our goal, just now I mentioned the example of taking removed soil and recycling it as road fill for embankments, to be used in public works projects and the like. It will be extremely important to reduce the final disposal volume through recycling and other means, as you yourselves also saw.

Going forward, we will launch a Ministerial Council and, based on today's observation tour, I intend to advance our efforts to achieve final disposal outside of the prefecture by the entire Government working together as one to create recycling projects.

(On the Government of Japan's (GOJ's) reaction to the political turmoil now seen in the Republic of Korea (ROK) and how the GOJ will maintain improved relations with the ROK, in light of a second impeachment motion against President Yoon of the Republic of Korea being scheduled for a vote in the National Assembly and concerns that, should the motion be passed, President Yoon will be suspended from his duties and governmental functions will decline)

I am aware that such circumstances exist right now. Regardless of a country being a neighbor, this is still ultimately a matter of the domestic affairs of another country. As such, I will refrain from offering any comments on behalf of Japanese government. As I have been saying since the situation began, the GOJ has been paying close attention to the situation with particular and serious concern. That is true of both the GOJ in general and myself in particular. Insofar as the ROK is an important neighboring country with whom we should cooperate as partners on various issues facing the international community, I believe the importance of Japan-ROK bilateral relations does not change in the slightest. Although no one can predict how the transition will turn out, we must continue to engage in close communication, and I intend to make every possible effort towards that end.