"The West is trying to impose its unilateral standards on us. I regard this as cultural imperialism," said Masayuki Komatsu whose strident ultranationalist rhetoric echoes the anti-western slogans of Japanese fascists convicted of war crimes and executed after World War II. Komatsu describes whales as the "cockroaches of the sea" and argues that "whales must be killed to protect fish." But he declines comment on why fish and whales thrived for millions of years before commercial whaling and fishing industries severely depleted edible fish stocks and nearly wiped out whale species around the world. Most modern, educated Japanese do not eat whale and reject government propaganda that whaling is synonymous with being Japanese. |
ST. KITTS (19 June 2006) -- Whether you were born in Auckland, Tokyo, New York, Osaka, Rome or someplace else on our small and increasingly stressed planet, your picture-perfect holiday in an island paradise would necessarily exclude witnessing the brutal slaughter of whales and dolphins by Japan's commercial fishing industry.
Despite the inflammatory "us against them" territorial rhetoric of Japan's extreme right-wing ultranationalists that echo the imperialist slogans of convicted Japanese war criminals, the extreme brutality of a deadly grenade exploding in the soft back of a young mother whale sickens most of us regardless of nationality and which corrupt politicians "call the shots" on our behalf. The human desire to nurture and protect wildlife is universal; it transcends territory and culture. In Moscow and Yokohama, in Cleveland and Singapore, in Barcelona and Bombay, we yearn to escape to pristine tropical island paradises that nurture an awe-inspiring spectacle of marine wildlife where whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and other ocean dwellers thrive in fully protected marine sanctuaries. And that's exactly what Japan and its pro-whaling puppets oppose. For the record and to help you plan your next holiday to an eco-friendly destination, here's how the IWC member nations voted on proposals to resume killing whales and dolphins. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Vote Number 1 - Japan Moves to Oppose Conservation of Small Cetaceans. They Failed. Japan opened with a resolution to prevent the IWC from discussing the conservation of small cetaceans. The vote was 32 for the whales and 30 for the whalers. Vote Number 2 - Japan Moves to Remove Openess at the IWC and Proposes Secret Ballots. They Failed. The 2nd vote was to introduce secret ballots. The vote was 33 for the whales and 30 for the whalers. This would have allowed nations to vote for Japan without repercussions from their own citizens. Vote Number 3 - Japan Moves to allow Japanese coastal whaling. They Failed. Japan proposed a motion to allow Japanese coastal communities to hunt whales. This would have effectively circumvented the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling. The vote was 30 for Japan and 31 for the whales. Vote Number 4 - Japan Moves to eliminate the SOuthern Oceans Whale Sanctuary. They Failed. The 4th and most important vote was a Japanese proposal to eliminate the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. It needed a two thirds majority but Japan was hoping for a simple majority to lend legitimacy to their illegal slaughter of whales in Antarctic waters. The vote was 28 for Japan and 33 for the whales. Vote Number 5 - The Infamous St. Kitts Declaration. Japan Moves to condemn the global moratorium on commercial whaling, to accuse the whales of eating all the world's fish and to condemn non-governmental whale conservations groups as "threats". They win the simple majority vote by one but failed to get the two-thirds majority required. Nonetheless Japan declares their first moral victory in 20 years. Passed by 33 votes to 32, the resolution stated the whaling ban was no longer necessary. It said whales were responsible for depleting fish stocks and non-governmental organizations were a "threat". This motion required a two-thirds majority to win. Japan and the whalers have lost all five votes on resolutions brought before the IWC to undermine the conservation of whales. The Voting Record by Nations | 
