TOKYO, Japan (15 Apr 2008) — As Japan's state-subsidized whaling fleet returned to port with only half of its intended catch, Japanese citizens again called on their government to end whaling. Junichi Sato of Greenpeace Japan blasted government officials for damaging Japan's international image by lying about its commercial whaling agenda. "If it's aimed purely at research, why does Japan have to kill whales to sell?," Sato asked. Sato also criticized Japanese officials for betraying and humiliating Japanese citizens by failing to pursue environmentally responsible policies that would make Japan worthy of international respect. "If Japan really wants to secure leadership in the international community, ending whaling is a prerequisite" Sato said. Under increasing domestic and international pressure to end its unpopular whaling fiasco, Japan announced earlier this year that it had dropped plans to kill endangered humpbacks, but that it would proceed with plans to kill over 1,000 whales including minke and endangered fin whales for so-called "scientific" research. But Japan returned to port with 551 whales after marine patrol vessels in Antarctica, including Greenpeace's Esperanza, obstructed the hunt. Internationalism vs ultranationalism Despite government-funded campaigns to persuade Japanese citizens that eating whales is a patriotic duty, most Japanese have never eaten whale meat. Concerned about the effects of high mercury levels on human health, public safety groups in Japan have threatened lawsuits against several ultranationalist politicians who deliberately endangered the health of young children by forcing school districts to put whale meat on school lunch menus to reinforce government propaganda that whaling is an integral part of Japan's culture. In fact, whaling has only a tiny constituency in Japan where most people associate it with the ruinous poverty Japan suffered during the aftermath of World War Two. Earlier this year, some 1,000 Japanese citizens who set sail aboard the Peace Boat to promote human rights and environmental issues demanded that Japan end whaling. "Whaling is a national symbol against the cultural imperialism of western nations," said Shigeko Misaki. "If we succumb to the moral standards of the western world, we would lose control of our people internally." Despite government-endorsed ultranationalist propaganda promulgated by Misaki and neo-con cronies asserting that slaughtering marine mammals is a patriotic duty, whaling has only a tiny constituency in Japan. | | Junichi Sato and fellow Japanese citizens protest the return of Japan's notorious whaling fleet with the slogan "RESEARCH FAILED" using a hand-held sign and the hull of the Nisshin Maru, a commercial factory whaling ship disguised as a scientific research vessel. "The fact our government is killing whales in the name of so-called 'scientific' research is very hard for us to accept and believe," said Peace Boat voyage director Nao Inoue. Inoue said Japan's "scientific" whaling is a "farce" that damages Japan's relations with the international community. "We need to keep up with the times," Inoue said. "The younger generation in Japan is more in tune with global public opinion...most have never eaten whale meat." Modern Japan On the streets of Tokyo, far from the handful of small coastal villages where a few hundred Japanese fishermen slaughter dolphins, most people say Japan should spend tax revenues on programs such as health insurance and renewable energy iniatives that help everyone, not just a few hundred people employed by Japan's moribund whaling industry. "I cannot understand the stubborn and backward attitude of a few old, out-of-touch politicians promoting a dead industry that sells whaling as 'Japan against the West -- us against them'," said 33-year-old salaryman Takashi Endo. "Norway and Iceland are still located in the West and still whaling so what does that mean? Are they actually Japanese just pretending to be Westerners ," Endo added. "We Japanese think whale meat is unhealthy and that's probably the main reason we don't want to eat it. And I also think it's true that most younger Japanese of my generation feel that whales have more value alive than dead. Stand in front of Tokyo Station where we are now and show a picture of whalers killing whales and another one of people like me watching them. I think almost everybody would tell you that the whale watching image reflects their feeling about how Japan should treat whales." © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKCDNN RELATED NEWSJAPAN - Japanese citizens demand end to Japan's whaling atrocitiesSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
