Japan Fukushima swipe turns into row

China has made a joke of Japan's decision to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant with a picture of a painting by artist Katsushika Hokusai.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian posted on his Twitter account a picture based on a piece in the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series painted during the Edo Period, irking Japanese government officials, The Japan Times reported.

"If Katsushika Hokusai was still alive today, he would also be very concerned about #JapanNuclearWater," hardline Zhao said in his Twitter post.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry protested to China over Zhao's post, which is viewed as insulting Japanese culture, and called for its deletion.

The parody picture, believed to have been drawn by a Chinese illustrator, depicts a person wearing an orange protective suit on a boat pouring deep green liquid from a bucket into the sea. Mount Fuji is replaced by a nuclear power plant.

On April 13, Japan decided to begin releasing the treated water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima in two years.