As for changing the attitudes of Japanese people I think it's hard. I was amazed while in Guam, that all these Japanese paid 70 dollars to go and watch whales and dolphins and were ohhing and ahhing over their beauty, but they are the same people who will tell you that Japan needs to kill them for science and they eat them. I just can't figure that one out.
We know that we eat animals...we don't do it in the name of science. I don't believe tht petting zoo's are humane and wouldn't subject any animal to that environment. Just as I don't think zoo's are in the best interest of animals. The Japanese I know are just not informed on whaling and how it's done. The sheer lack of knowledge is amazing. My 8 year old nephews know where hot dogs come from...my 40 year old husband thinks Japan kills whales for science. Go Greenpeace!
And, Kame, as I said before, there are many Japanese, that can read english, thus all the english pages in the internet, that are related, from all over the world. Its open and free for everyone to see. And whoever can read english, can also translate and spread around, any which way.
Without controls. . .no way back to old dictatorships in the end.
You have obviuosly troubles in seeing see cause and effects. Which has happened before (wrong target etc.). . .The irrational pressure of few anti-whaling countries is what's creating the current situation.
It's true that many Japanese can read English news on the Internet. In fact, many of the blogs I browsed yesterday directly referenced the news from BBC and other foreign media that reported on whaling. Japanese media also report the overseas reactions quite well. Don't just stereotypically assume there's "censorship" or bias without even reading what Japanese media are reporting (can you even read Japanese?).
Back to those blogs, many Japanese (not newspaper writers) fully understand the foreign (especially Australian) reactions and express their disgust in the way anti-whaling organizations/governments pressure Japan. If you really want to know if the current anti-whaling campaign is doing any good to change the public opinion in Japan, you should try to read these articles written by average Japanese. It's not just the government and a couple of companies fighting for whaling.
If you think it's the few hundred million dollar worth of money (which is nothing compared to other interests) that drive the Japanese whaling, there's more at stake in terms of donations for Green Peace in this campaign. They sure suck in achieving the goal to stop whaling, but as a profit maker, they are pretty damn good.
Don't just stereotypically assume there's "censorship" or bias without even reading what Japanese media are reporting (can you even read Japanese?).
J
and you obviously only see those, who support your case. Who tells you, for example, that those bloggers are the average of the japanese? They could as well be parts of the PR machinery, you sound like one of them, for example. . .
for pay they would do anything, I know. Who pays you for this??.
Please don't make false accusations without any basis. I am not paid to do this. If I were, I'd be more careful and thorough. You have no basis on your conspiracy theory either. GP people are paid pretty well to do their promotions, by the way, through your donations.
For some reason, Japanese really like blogs. Today's nikkei reports that there are 13.5 million blogs written by Japanese (over 1 in 10 Japanese). If you know how popular blogs are in Japan and read some of them (which you don't) I think it's fair to say that they capture a good part of average Japanese population. Definitely more representative of Japanese public opinions than Green Peace's press releases that you seem to like.
I don't need to read the Greenpeace press, to know, whats going on there (I can think for myself and find own sources, good man), and we had many other sources already. But we had such discussions already on another thread, bla bla.
Blogs are as popular elsewhere in the world, by the way, thats not a japanese speciality, nor representative. It may also show, how uninformed many are, by the way.
I know the rule of the press, and who is behind those advisors for it or behind.
We all know this by now.
It spreads by itself, once the can is open.
What do you call your fake "scientific" hunting then? Non-agressive?. . .
I think there's case for both sides with regard to "scientific" whaling. They do obtain useful data out of killing 1000 whales, but I don't think they would collect the same amount of data if they were allowed to hunt the same number of whales commercially.
I don't really care what they call the whaling operation, be it scientific or commercial. What's important is how many and which whales are hunted, and whether or not the hunting is done sustainably. In the political climate surrounding whaling over the past few decades, this was the political compromise that both sides of whaling at IWC reached, at least for the last few years.
Australia and GP seem to want to open the door to tip the balance again. It could very well result in more whales hunted than status quo. Well, GP will have more reason to bash Japan to attract more money, good for them. If governments like Australia really want to pressure Japan out of whaling, it's going to cost a lot on both sides iboth politically and econonically. Are they ready to take the heat?
You are very fixed on GP, shall I give you some more names??
I thought this was a thread about Greenpeace. If not, please make your thread titles clearer in the future.
I hate the whole culture issue as well as the scientific issue that Japanese claim. It is not preserving Japanese culture, just as they don't walk around in Kimono as daily clothing anymore. There is not a cultural need for whaling in Japan on a commercial level. It's just because they can get away with it.
Green Peace is not a journalistic organization. Of course they want to promote that their campaign is getting support from Japan, so that they continue to draw donations from those anti-whalers outside Japan. Don't attempt to accuse media bias without even reading/watching them. As far as the bias is concerned, the US/Australian/BBC reports are far more unfair than anything I've seen.
If you have lived in Japan long enough and understand how Japanese would perceive the aggressive style of the organizations protests, it's not a matter of question that their tactics will only antagonize average Japanese.
I guess that the agressive protesting like those practiced by Sea Shepard and GP are actually popular in Western cultures. It just doesn't work in Japan and probably not in other Asian countries as well.
especially after the recent outrageous Sea Shepard's act of terrorism.
It amazes me that some people equate two guys in a dinghy delivering a letter to a whaling ship 'terrorism'. Illegal boarding, assault even, but not terrorism. It gives the impression that you're far too divorced from reality to have any credible opinions on this issue.