Comments on: On Hunting Whales in Japan

By: On Hunting Dolphins in Japan | This Japanese Life. | 生命を外面九天です

On Hunting Dolphins in Japan | This Japanese Life. | 生命を外面九天です — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 19:01:59 +0000

[…] with Sea Shepard, documenting the dolphin-hunting industry in Taiji, Japan. Last year, our post On Hunting Whales in Japan, tried to explain the Japanese perspective on its whaling industry. It seemed fair to show another […]

By: Whaling – Is It a Crime? | The Great White Island

Whaling – Is It a Crime? | The Great White Island — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 13:45:07 +0000

[…] Reading (There’s still a ton information that I didn’t even touch upon): Much of my ideas were inspired from This Japanese Life Great BBC Article on the Subject Wikipedia Japanese Whaling History Wikipedia […]

By: Nico

Nico — Wed, 08 May 2013 08:05:46 +0000

I think most animal preservation groups to be stupid and annoying. I also don’t see any reason the Japanese shouldn’t be allowed to sustainably hunt whales. It’s simply another type of meat, and trying to pass it off as anything other is simply a subjective opinion. Differentiating between whales and cows, etc is simply hypocrisy.
For comparison, the Japanese are shocked when I mention I eat kangaroo. They idea that I’d eat something so cute and cuddly-looking astounds them. Proof that people on both sides of the fence occasionally live with their heads in the sand while spouting crap.

By: Archana

Archana — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:55:06 +0000

this is not surprising – governments do contrary rubbish all the time. the british, for example, only wanted to host the olympics when they found out the french wanted it – and they spent millions on the logo – a logo most people couldnt read and it was slowly corrected (using very little money) as the games drew nearer. im not for or against wailing (so much food is thrown away every year in many countries and people starve – it’s all beyond my control) but i do think white people get carried away with causes. None of them want to work to uncover the corruption going on at home because that’s all mundane and boring and not very romantic. Instead they put their efforts into random things like saving the whales. No scientific need to save all the whales – just saving them because why not. And there is always the obligatory t-shirt, bumper sticker, now there’s a tacky bracelet and don’t forget, when an animal is associated, a cuddly toy! (more often made in a country like Bangaldesh by children – but who cares because look at the majestic whales)

By: owwls

owwls — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 02:45:35 +0000

Yes sorry- as I wrote, the whalers in Japan relied on net hunting (from boats) and beached whales, ie, close-shore hunts. After modernized boats and modernized harpoons (including refrigeration, making hunts from farther away possible) Japan started hunting whales in earnest as a food source. The distinction is between small-scale hunts in sparse locations vs wartime and post-war hunts on an industrial scale– From what Ive seen Japan had local traditions but no real national tradition of hunting whales until the 1930s.

By: jason m

jason m — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:59:02 +0000

According to a Wikipedia article Japanese whalers started to use boats and harpoons in the early 1700th….all that in boats and more or less close to the shores. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Japan) I’m aware that not all is true that’s posted on Wikipedia but that also goes for any and everything else that’s posted anywhere :)
So far, it’s clear to me that, surprise, it’s all about money and being established that the Japanese modern whaling industry actually loses money, it’s about political fiefdoms. Nothing seems to make sense – the whole issue is highly irrational.

PS. I personally am anti-whaling out of many reasons. I’m also heavily against the modern methods of raising chicken and various other ‘live stock’.

By: Sophelia

Sophelia — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:56:59 +0000

Thank you so much for writing this! It is so hard to be anti-whaling (for the record, I am a vegetarian and the “whales are intelligent beautiful creatures thing drives me insane… so are pigs! Give up your F-ing bacon then try that argument again!) but also express frustration at the international response to Japan’s position. I am from Tasmania, the “home” port of Sea Shepard, and mentioning anything other than “Japanese are cruel and barbaric and whales are beautiful” is heresy in that community. Say one anti-Sea Shepard thing and prepare for hate mail and death threats. There’s an interesting round up of some of SS’s more racist comments at Japan Probe (although I don’t agree with JP’s stance on the issue either, I find their point of view interesting): http://www.japanprobe.com/2012/01/20/remember-world-war-ii-sea-shepherd-depicts-japanese-as-uniquely-cruel-dishonest/

By: mantelope

mantelope — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 02:18:16 +0000

I personally think some of the senselessness comes also from the fact that the meat runs a high risk of toxicity from mercury and PCB accumulation. Sure, it’s high in protein, but when levels of mercury in meat are pushing the government limits (and in the case of dolphins, a whole other can of worms, way surpassing them), why put children and communities at risk of dangerous persistent chemical exposure when they don’t even really want the meat anyways? The conservation issue becomes entirely less relevant when the food isn’t guaranteed to be safe. A whale is a large animal to kill only to find out you can’t do anything with it.

By: owwls

owwls — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:29:09 +0000

For me it’s the fact that nobody wants it- sort as senseless as building an abattoir and then just spitting the cow corpses into a landfill. If people used these animals like they used cows or chickens it’d be different – that said, how much meat is thrown away in the US every year? I’m not sure, but its probably horrifying.

By: owwls

owwls — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:57:30 +0000

Ah, they relied on beached whales until adopting modern (Norwegian) hunting methods, then it became an industry of harpooning etc…