Japan Press Weekly

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2017 March 22 - 28 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Tokyo JCP presses Gov. Koike to halt move of wholesale market to contaminated site

The Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblypersons’ Group on March 24 made representations to Governor Koike Yuriko, demanding the cancellation of the move of Tokyo’s wholesale market from its current location in Tsukiji to Toyosu.

As groundwater in the planned relocation site of Toyosu has been found out to be contaminated with toxic substances such as arsenic, benzene, and cyanide exceeding the environment standards, the 17-member group urged the governor to consider having the existing facilities renewed in order to continue using them at the current location.

The group emphasized that Tokyo should promote the renewal and redevelopment of the Tsukiji market while gaining the consent and input from Ttsukiji wholesalers to work together with experts and Tokyo citizens.

Pointing out that the metropolitan government has long neglected to make necessary repairs and maintenance work for the Tsukiji market, the JCP proposed that Tokyo immediately embark on having the market buildings renewed and renovated and having appropriate sanitary measures implemented there.

Later on the same day, the JCP group held a press conference and the group’s secretary general Oyama Tomoko again stressed the need for the governor to halt the transfer of the market by saying, “The safety and hygiene of the new site cannot be assured due to the highly contaminated state of the site.”

Past related articles:
>70% of seafood traders in Tsukiji call for cancellation of relocation to polluted Toyosu district [March 15, 2017]
>Tokyo Assembly’s special commission launches investigation into Toyosu scandal [March 12 & 13, 2017]
>Ex-Tokyo gov. Ishihara eager to find scapegoats for Toyosu scandal in run-up to assembly hearing [March 4, 2017]
>Vegetable brokers in Tsukiji oppose market relocation to polluted Toyosu site [March 3, 2017]