LONDON: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, enjoyed popcorn from Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, during their meeting in London on Thursday.

At the meeting, Johnson informed Kishida of Britain’s plan to lift by the end of June its import restrictions on food produced in Fukushima and other areas in Japan, which were introduced after the March 2011 nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s tsunami-crippled Fukushima No. 1 power station.

ジョンソン首相@BorisJohnsonの温かい歓迎に感謝します。
この度、日英円滑化協定が大枠合意に至ったことは、大きな成果です。
また、ジョンソン首相から、６月末までに日本産食品の輸入規制を撤廃する予定との説明がありました。被災地の方々を勇気づけるものであり、心より歓迎します。 https://t.co/QoLDW9oO3R pic.twitter.com/YJClzhDB7X

— 岸田文雄 (@kishida230) May 6, 2022

According to a statement released by the office of the British prime minister after the two leaders’ meeting, Johnson said he was “pleased” that Britain would soon lift the remaining restrictions on Fukushima food products.

The popcorn Kishida and Johnson tasted was flavored with peach nectar and coconuts, a photograph released by the British prime minister’s office showed. Kishida brought with him the popcorn produced by Hishinuma Farm in the city of Fukushima.

When the two met in Brussels in March this year, they enjoyed Fukushima-produced karinto, or deep-fried Japanese snack made with brown sugar. At that time, Johnson, who called himself a fan of karinto, brought the snack with him.

In 2017, when Johnson was serving as foreign minister of Britain, then Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono posted on Twitter a video showing Johnson enjoying drinking peach juice from Fukushima.

JIJI Press