River fish distributor Yoshida Suisan in the town of Miyakoji, Fukushima Prefecture, is back in business shipping char, trout and rainbow trout for the first time in five years since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake kicked off the core meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
"I want people to eat delicious river fish from Miyakoji," said Eimitsu Yoshida, the company's third president, who is plunging back into business after monthly radiation tests on the fish came out clean.
Yoshida Suisan was established in 1964 in Iwaisawa, formerly in the village of Miyakoji. Setting up a processing plant near the headquarters and a nursery each in Higashifurumichi and Kotakizawa, the company cultivated and sold freshwater fish. Before the 2011 mega-quake, its annual output was 40 tons. It shipped 4 million fish, including fresh fish, minnows and processed fish.