Sarapva
Midnight and Snowflake
- 25 Feb 2007
- 1,072
- 48
An opinion poll carried out in Japan by the Nippon Research Centre, in June 2006, showed that 95 per cent of Japanese people never or rarely eat whale meat. More than two-thirds of Japanese do not support whaling on the high seas.
To prove that you don't need to kill whales for research, Greenpeace is collaborating with a team of scientists on the "Great Whale Trail" project.
Data from satellite tagging of whales, harmless skin biopsies and fluke identification has already yielded valuable information about the migration patterns of threatened humpback populations, without a single harpoon being fired.
We will display the location of the whaling fleet as it is tracked south by the Esperanza on the same map on which it is tracking humpback migration routes from their breeding grounds in New Caledonia and the Cook Islands.
"Japan's whalers are deceiving the Japanese public by painting the word "research" on their ships," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan Whales Project leader. "Real scientists don't need to kill whales to study them. This is commercial whaling poorly dressed up as science."
This is from Greenpeace:
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/oceans/whale-defenders
Great news Sara:
I actually used to ask my students and friends in Japan about the topic and I didn't once here anyone who would eat whale so it used to amze me why on earth the JP government is so determined.....
Maybe it's all those old concrete minds in the government..
I once heard, the only qualification for becoming a minister in Japan is that one should be over the age of 70!
"Japan's whalers are deceiving the Japanese public by painting the word "research" on their ships," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan Whales Project leader. "Real scientists don't need to kill whales to study them. This is commercial whaling poorly dressed up as science."
I had never heard of "Nippon Research Center" and when I looked it
up, sure enough, it was a private marketing research company. As for the 2006 poll that Green Peace refers to, GP was a client who paid for
that "research".
Could have been from me. . .and one does not even need Greenpeace to find this out. . .
Truth hurts, right?
And who is the client for the so-called "research" now and acts and pays how?...
A scale has two sides. . .
The truth is that Japan wants to hunt whales to eat and some countries don't want them to.
Many Japanese are often too shy to express their opinions that would result in a heated debate or confrontation. That tendency becomes even more apparent when they are dealing with foreigners and/or in a foreign language they aren't entirely comfortable with. And imagining from your die-hard anti-whaling attitude in this forum, I can easily imagine your students sensing which side you are on (even if not, it's much safer to assume that you are agains whaling of any kind) and wouldn't risk their impression as your students. If you haven't noticed this in Japanese with your past experience, you must be really insensitive (honne and tatemae).
I wouldn't argue with you about the old concrete minds in the Japanese government. But do you think that youtube video was put together by a 50 years old Japanese man? Do you think all those million immature comments were written by middle-aged-and-up Japanese?
If anything came out of this Australian mess, it really made a bad impression of Australia in Japan especially among the younger citizens.
In March 2003, Inwood was the organiser of a tour of Australasia by the former secretary of the International Whaling Commission, Dr Ray Gambell, who was urging an end to the moratorium on commercial whaling. The tour was sponsored by the World Council of Whalers. The New Zealand Herald identified Inwood as a PR consultant to the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission and Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), the Japanese agency which is responsible for its commercial whaling operations. As of 2007 Inwood continues his work with the ICR.
In January 2006 the New Zealand Herald reported that Inwood also works for Te Ohu Kaimoana, "the sole voting shareholder in Aotearoa Fisheries (AFL), which owns a 50 per cent shareholding in Sealord. The other half-share in Sealord is owned by the Japanese company, Nissui, which is a major shareholder in Japan's Antarctic whaling fleet.
Japan has been whaling for many many generations, and will continue to do so. What Australia should be doing, instead of ignoring its obligations under the Whaling Convention, is helping to bring about the return of commercial whaling. That's what the Whaling Convention is about. It was certinaly never signed to promote whale watching. If the Australian Government wanted to promote whale watching, it should leave the IWC to those who want to hunt and eat whales
According to a recent news article, there's still 6,000 tons of whalemeat left from last year's expedition. In that case, why is there a new expedition? Although I've seen a few whalemeat restaurants, I don't think Japanese are demanding to eat the stuff. It's not a tradition because Japan was largely vegetarian before William Perry forced open Japanese trade with the world.
I was told Japanese were aghast that Americans ate cows!
Just to be fair, money drives Green Peace as well. They need loads of money to send ships and to feed thousands of employees. Anti-whaling is a major money magnet. I never heard of them campaigning against kangaroo hunting or any other endangered terrestrial animals for that matter.
Our Funding
Greenpeace does not solicit contributions from government or corporations, nor will we endorse political candidates. Our 250,000 members in the United States and 2.5 million members worldwide provide virtually all of our funding through individual contributions. Your support provides the backbone of our organization and is invaluable to our efforts.
posted by Ocean Dude:
So, this leaves the question of who is forcing the issue? If it's the government, who in the government? Most importantly, who is paying for the ships, the fuel, and the crew? As they tell young law students in law school, you have to follow the money.
Money doesn't drive Greenpeace, but they need it to do what they do. They're not getting rich like others who are involved in commercial enterprises (like whaling):
Greenpeace is an environmental group, not an animal rights group, so the fact that they're involved in trying to stop whaling means that there's a threat to the oceans from whaling.
This is a good question. I think we need to do more research. You're probably on the right track, Chi - it sounds like Glenn Inwood is behind some financing for the Japanese whaling.
I would also ask Mr. Inwood a simple question...
...what scientific interest can Japan possibly have in studying the economci viability of a waterway not its own?
What right do they think they have to treat an international / Australian territory as their own personal ATM?
Would the Japanese dare undertake such a "scientific" study in American waters? In British?
One could argue that whaling is legal inside the Japanese EEZ. There is absolutely no argument that can be made to justify commercial whaling (which JARPA is and its stated aim to be) in an international sanctuary.
Personally I've never eaten whale meat and I couldn't care less. But the kind of anti-whaling argument I see in the media is definitely radicalizing pro-whaling Japanese.
Hi pipokun,
I absolute believe you when you say that the Japanese people hardly eat any whale-meat at all. I also believe that most Japanese want this whaling to stop, just as most of us on earth want it to stop it.
As a complete layman, I see it more as an economic item. Maybe it is just a delicacy for the very rich and spoiled ones on earth.
We never see it in our supermarkets, now do we?