TOKYO: Japan’s Foreign Ministry has released a series of English-language animated videos to tout the safety of the planned release of treated water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.

Four videos of one to two minutes in length have been uploaded on YouTube as the ministry is seeking to counter false information circulating online regarding the water release plan.

The first of the series that is titled “Why is the discharge of ALPS treated water safe?” was uploaded in April, explaining how radioactive substances are removed from water from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plant in northeastern Japan, the site of the March 2011 triple reactor meltdown.

Coming with subtitles in Japanese, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Arabic, the video has garnered over five million views. “It’s drawing attention very much both from Japan and abroad,” a senior ministry official said.

In July, the ministry uploaded three other videos explaining that there is no other choice but to discharge the water into the ocean and that the water discharge causes no harm to human health and the environment. It plans to put multi-language subtitles to these videos later on.

The ministry is stepping up efforts to promote the safety of the water release plan to foreigners because of concerns that harmful rumors might run out of control.

A South Korean online media outlet released a report in June that the Japanese government made political donations to the International Atomic Energy Agency over the planned treated water release, while China has criticized Japan by describing the treated water as nuclear contaminated water.

Tokyo wants to prevent such claims from influencing international opinions.

The Japanese government aims to start releasing the treated water around this summer. At a press conference on Tuesday, Foreign Minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa said it is “very important to provide objective and accurate information to control rumors.”

JIJI Press