Flood of worries
Meanwhile, it's an entirely different story in China.
Concerns over Japanese radiation have been brewing for a long time. Some netizens have questioned why the Chinese government did not issue a travel alert as far back as November, 2015.
At a press conference last June, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei also touched upon the matter, urging the Japanese government to deal with the matter and reminding Chinese residents of Japan and tourists to be safe.
Their words expressed little worry about the overall situation, but this didn't stop Chinese netizens from getting worried. Articles circulated on the Internet speculating whether the meltdown would be harmful to people.
Zhao said she received several messages from concerned friends and acquaintances who were thinking of traveling to Japan, but are now too scared. Some people who she hadn't talked to since high school even started ringing her up and telling her that the foreign ministry had issued "breaking warnings." She had to send the original warning to them and explain it's only a less severe, ordinary alert.
Ding Shibei, a graduate student at Sophia University in Tokyo, said her parents have warned her to be careful but she is quite used to such news now and doesn't feel the need to worry or panic.
"People who are afraid will always be afraid no matter what you say," she said. She said she heard about the discussions back home but simply feels bemused by all the fuss.
"People panic because they don't understand radiation, they don't know what level is dangerous to humans and how to protect themselves," said Ding, a Shanghai native. Some Chinese students in Tokyo said their parents have warned them not to eat food from the affected area.
Frank Zhu, a resident of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times he's concerned about accidentally consuming food from that area. He read an article that has been circulating on the Internet for the past few days that claimed "Taiwan is filled with foods from Fukushima". He's worried that contaminated seafood might also find its way to the Chinese mainland.
The story quotes a local newspaper article saying consumers in Taiwan found many products from Fukushima in the region's shops. The local health bureau pulled 600,000 items from supermarket shelves and sent some to be tested for radiation.
Ideological debate
Many dismiss the worry in China as unnecessary and ridiculous. "They have a much bigger problems," one Chinese resident living in Japan commented. "Don't come to Japan if you're afraid of the radiation, live in Beijing's air pollution instead."
Pan Ziqiang, a radiation expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering told the Technology Daily on Monday that there's no basis to claims that the nuclear incident is more severe than before, because the nuclear reactor that's releasing high radiation is within a safety containment shell, and hence it won't affect the outside.
But quickly, discussions on the Internet over the incident itself and worries about safety turned into an ideological war. Because of Japan's history of conflict with China, in recent years even small matters can lead to groups of people hurling insults in each other's faces.
In the discussions, some netizens guessed that the Chinese embassy's safety warning was a way of spiting the Japanese government, as a slap in their face. They also accused people who were defending the safety of Japan as traitors who suck up to the Abe administration. One even said, "You must have taken money from the Japanese government!"
Some others became angry at these accusations and said, "Just stay in Beijing, stay in your smoggy weather."
This mentality and excessive concern over China's neighboring country is rooted in the fact Japan is becoming a more popular destination for the Chinese. Even though there are unresolved political and historical issues between the two countries, the culture and tourist attractions of the country's old enemy have become ever more appealing to its people.
According to a 2016 report by international media company Travelzoo, 22 percent of Chinese surveyed planned to travel to Japan in 2017, making it the most popular choice. The second hottest destination is Australia.
Rifts in the Sino-Japanese relationship and domestic news can have a ripple effect on tourism. A few weeks ago, protests against the APA hotel chain over material in its rooms that denied the truth of the Nanjing Massacre triggered a decrease in tourism and the China International Tourism Service even announced a boycott on the hotel.
