Japan Press Weekly

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2017 March 29 - April 4 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

‘Tsukiji bashing’ by LDP faces fierce counterattack

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on March 30 rejected by a majority vote the Liberal Democratic Party resolution proposal pushing for the early relocation of the Tsukiji Fish Market to the Toyosu district.

The resolution is supported by Nippon Ishin no Kai along with the LDP. The Japanese Communist Party and four other political groups voted against it.

The LDP has pushed ahead with the relocation plan, insisting that the Tsukiji market has become “too old”.

On the same day, a women’s group of brokers in Tsukiji held a news conference in the metropolitan government office building and produced a statement in protest against the LDP’s negative campaign against the world-famous wholesale market.

Referring to the fact that groundwater at the Toyosu site is contaminated with highly toxic substances such as benzene, the statement stresses that the safety of the site is “not assured”.

The document notes that “we can no longer overlook the persistent and insidious attacks made by the LDP”. It goes on to state, “Having long-standing ties with the LDP, many business operators in Tsukiji have donated a large sum of money to the party. Nevertheless, the LDP is turning its back on them.”

Citing the fact that about 70% of the seafood brokers in Tsukiji signed a petition calling for the cancellation of the transfer, the statement demands that the metropolitan government abandon the planned relocation and make necessary improvements to the present market.

Past related article:
> Tokyo JCP presses Gov. Koike to halt move of wholesale market to contaminated site [March 25, 2017]