Japan has asked South Korea and China to lift their import bans on Japanese seafood. 

According to Japan's Kyodo News, Japanese Agriculture Minister Takamori Yoshikawa on Sunday requested Seoul and Beijing to lift their import bans on seafood from Fukushima and some other prefectures.

Yoshikawa reportedly made the request to his Chinese counterpart, Han Changfu, and South Korean Agriculture Minister Lee Gae-ho during separate bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting in the central Japanese city of Niigata. 

The Japanese minister reportedly said Japan is having difficulties in exports of fishery products as many countries introduced bans on Japanese seafood after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima.

South Korea and China introduced the bans following the leakage of radioactive material into the air and sea from a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, which was triggered by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.