Source: Global Times - Global Network
[Global Times-Global Network Report Reporter Xing Xiaojing] "Kanagawa Surfing" created by Japanese Edo period painter Katsushika Hokusai means "human beings face difficulties and tenaciously forge ahead", which can be called the most representative "divine work" in Japanese ukiyo-e works. Recently, the Japanese government's blatant decision to discharge nuclear contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea has aroused widespread criticism, and the Chinese illustrator with the Weibo ID "A Boy Who Loves To Learn" created "Kana Tritium Surf" to protest. On the 20th, the illustrator said in an interview with the Global Times reporter that the core message conveyed by the painting is that "the Japanese government should not 'dump' the nuclear contaminated water", otherwise the consequences faced by all mankind will be the same as in the painting.
Ignoring domestic and foreign doubts and objections, the Japanese government formally decided on April 13 to discharge nuclear contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea. It also said that the tritium concentration in nuclear wastewater will be diluted to 1/40 of the japanese radiation concentration benchmark value before discharge, which is equivalent to 1/7 of the drinking water radiation safety standards established by the World Health Organization (WHO).
"It's horrible!" "It feels like the world is coming to an end!" The illustrator, who did not want to reveal his identity, told the Global Times reporter that when he learned that the Japanese government had made this irresponsible decision, he felt "sad" and "unhappy" and wanted to protest with the paintbrush in his hand.
In "In the Kana Tritium Surf", the white waves are like human deformed fingers, twisted babies, and mutated sea creatures, struggling in the waves. The ship is loaded with piggy banks with radioactive symbols, and the staff in protective suits and gas masks are pouring buckets of nuclear contaminated water into the sea...
The immovable Mt. Fuji has become a nuclear power plant that emits smoke, the clouds in the sky have become crosses symbolizing graves, and the words "Kanagawa Surf" on the left have been written as "Kana Tritium Surf". The person paddling in the original picture was created as a middle-aged man with a "tie" and "hair topped", referring to the Japanese bureaucracy. The author told the Global Times reporter, "They will only bow and apologize, and nothing else will be done." He asked, "But what's the use of apologizing?"
"All the details of my design are intuitive, and I hope that whether it is Chinese, Japanese or Westerners, I can understand this painting." The illustrator said that the core message he wanted to convey was that "the Japanese government should not 'dump' the nuclear contaminated water, otherwise the consequences for all mankind will be the same as in the painting."
"Kana Tritium Surf" has received a lot of attention on social media, and since its noon release, it has received more than 12,000 retweets. In this regard, the illustrator said that this shows that the public has a strong resonance with the painting, believing that the Japanese government should not discharge the nuclear contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin pointed out at a regular press conference on the 20th that Japan unilaterally chose the marine emission plan with the smallest economic cost to itself out of its own selfish interests and only on the grounds that the space of the on-site storage tank was limited, but left the greatest environmental health and safety risks to the world, and transferred the responsibility that should have been borne by itself to all mankind, which is a very irresponsible behavior.