Work resumed Wednesday on a controversial land reclamation project in Isahaya Bay, Nagasaki Prefecture, amid protests by about 70 seaweed fishermen demonstrating in front of the project site.
The protest prevented construction workers and officials from the farm ministry's Kyushu Regional Agricultural Administration Office from entering the site through the main gate when they arrived at around 8 a.m. However, they were later able to access the site from another gate at around 10:30 a.m.
Earth-moving vehicles then got to work, removing water that had accumulated in pools in some parts of the already reclaimed land.
The day before, the protesters prevented work from resuming as scheduled. Operations at the site had been suspended for about 11 months due to local opposition.