Japan Official Joins Brazil Event to Promote Fishery Products

Sao Paulo, Sept. 11 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tetsushi Sakamoto attended a food event in Sao Paulo on Wednesday, trying some dishes using Japanese fishery products to promote them.

Japanese food culture is established in Brazil, which has the biggest community of Japanese descent outside Japan. Brazilians are increasingly interested in Japanese food in line with the growing popularity of trips to the Asian country.

Japan has been hit by China's import ban on Japanese fishery products. China, which used to be a big importer of such items, began the measure last year in response to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s discharges of tritium-containing treated water from its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the sea.

Tokyo sees Brazil as a promising market and aims to expand sales of fishery products there.

During the event, Sakamoto tried oysters from Hiroshima and Okayama prefectures. "The taste of raw oysters spreads throughout the mouth," he said. "I feel as if I were swimming in the sea."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]