Japan whaling town gets season's first catch

Sunday 21st June, 05:45 PM JST

TOKYO —

Japanese whalers in a small fishing town near Tokyo celebrated their first catch of the season Sunday and cut up the harvest in a demonstration to promote their fading tradition.

The season for the Baird’s beaked whale, or “tsuchi kujira” in Japanese, opened Saturday at Wada Port just ahead of this year’s International Whaling Commission meeting.

Australia and New Zealand are expected to try to persuade the IWC to ban killing whales for scientific studies, threatening Japan’s annual hunt near the Antarctic that has sparked violent confrontations with environmental activists.

The hunt for whales off Wada is separate from the controversial, larger scientific hunt _ but it underscores Japan’s argument that the centuries-old whaling tradition is still part of its culture.

In a highly stylized ritual, whalers sprinkled rice wine over the first whale _ measuring 11 yards (10 meters) long and weighing 11 tons (10 metric tons) _ to pray for the safe hunting season. They peeled off the whale’s thick, black skin with a special saw, chopped its head off to drain blood into a gutter, then cut the hefty animal into thousands of brick-size chunks of meat for the morning market.

Hunting the Baird’s beaked whale in the Japanese waters is not restricted by the IWC and is managed by Japan’s Fisheries Agency. Officials in the town of Minamiboso, which oversees the Wada region, said they plan to catch up to 26 of the whales during the season, which ends Aug. 31.

The number is negligible compared to Japan’s hunts in Antarctica and the northwestern Pacific Ocean, which are allowed under international rules as a scientific program despite a 1986 ban on commercial whaling. Whale meat not used for study is sold for consumption, which critics say is the real reason for the hunt.

Japan’s government argues that international bans on commercial whaling violates its cultural traditions.

Whale was widely eaten in Japan until the 1970s as a cheaper alternative to other meats. It is no longer a common food in the country, although meat from the hunt is sold in Japanese supermarkets and upscale restaurants.

“Whale meat has been part of our traditional diet, and it was a great cultural experience,” said Hitoshi Watanabe, 50, an office worker who came to watch the Wada whale ceremony. “It was also good learn that we live at the sacrifice of precious lives of other animals.”

Whaling at Wada dates back to 1612, town officials say. The town is one of Japan’s several traditional whaling hubs.

Militant environmentalists have clashed with Japan’s whaling fleet in recent years to obstruct its whale hunt. Earlier this year, activists from the U.S. group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had violent confrontations with Japanese ships in the Antarctic.

Australia and New Zealand last week announced a plan to send a non-lethal research expedition to the Antarctic early next year to eventually seek a new IWC ban on killing whales for scientific study. The international whaling body holds its annual plenary sessions June 22-26 in Madeira, Portugal.

In the latest Japanese hunt that ended in April, its fleet killed 679 minke whales and one fin whale over five months, below its stated goals of up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales.

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Latest 15 of 83 Total Comments Show All

Brunobear at 12:10 PM JST - 28th June

ninjaninaritai: Japan has benefited enormously after its misplaced former militarialistic past ended in August 1945 and the West ensured Japanese Society was rebuilt on a free, democratic, secular basis and poured in enormous economic Marshall Plan aid to underwrite it. You and the other young Japanese today have only known peace and prosperity in your life times which otherwise would not have been the case. Be grateful for it as am I.

None of Russia, China, India, the US, Britain, Indonesia, Germany, or virtually any country on earth is still whaling. Just little old Japan along with insolvent Iceland, and intransigent Norway who only do it to sell their modest catch to Japan.

If whale meat was actually popular with the 127 million Japanese as your officials represent it to be, it would be dearer a kilo than bluefin tuna. Mate, they are just not queing up to buy it. That is why you stick it in freezers with doubtless much secretly getting dumped.

Japanese youth know that by developing a whale watching industry around Japan's unique and beautiful coastline those seaside resorts would develop micro economies that would dwarf that of the primitive and treaty breaching whale slaughter industry. But then Japan is dopey enough to think it is fine to manufacture motor cars and export them to the US and elsewhere at secretly way below cost and undermine other country market based motor industries. We call that mercantilism! It is evil. As a result you have the worst level of public debt in the world. 200% of GDP and rising. Japan is not running up real trade surpluses - it is going bankrupt pretending it is. Like, hey, we really love having a whale meat snack with a Saki while watching TV.

Your fight on the whaling issue is one of blustering jingoistic nationalism first, rather than just going along with the 6.4 billion people on the planet who oppose it and just may be right.

The fact that Japan buys off a number of tiny little poverty stricken states to get their whaling vote is reflective of the same insular, self centred, dogmatic militarialistic approach of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. A real Socially aware country would channel aid to those countries that had lonmg term economic social benefits. Not just an annual drip! It is why Russia was given the Kurile Islands back at the Yalta conference without firing a shot at Japan in WW11, and won't give them back to Japan now. Russia doesn't need them.

The world see the four Japanese representatives sitting at the front row there of the World Whaling Conference like four stooges and it gives the rest of the world the Sh..s. It is not an issue worth Japan losing national reputation over. The economic value is tiny as is the number of people employed in it. Japan loses money doing it. Now that is what the rest of us call plain stupid. Then they get people like you cheering for it.
davidattokyo at 12:51 PM JST - 29th June

BrunoBear,

Other than Greenpeace propaganda I've seen little suggestion that Japanese youth is "anti-whaling" like for example Australian youth, which of course is.

I'm skipping the stuff about WWII - it has nothing to do with whaling today in 2009 and beyond.

None of ... or virtually any country on earth is still whaling.

Yes, they burn oil for energy these days instead.

Just little old Japan along with insolvent Iceland, and intransigent Norway who only do it to sell their modest catch to Japan.

It is Australia that is intransigent, not Norway or the other whaling nations. And the fact that the catches are so modest is yet another indicator that there is little to be concerned about when it comes to sustainable whaling in the 21st century.

If whale meat was actually popular ... it would be dearer a kilo than bluefin tuna.

If you use the same logic you would determine that Aussie beef is not "actually popular" as well.

A minke whale recently by-caught in a sleepy area of northern Japan sold at 5.4 million yen at auction, while even anti-whaling campaigners happily point out that they can go for as much as 100,000 USD. This is not pocket money than people are dishing out of their wallets

That is why you stick it in freezers

It is necessary to have product on hand if you want to be able to sell it all year round. It costs money to store something in freezers, and someone is paying money for that purpose. You can work it out.

with doubtless much secretly getting dumped.

When you find yourself just making stuff up it should be sounding alarm bells in your own mind at least that you are grasping at straws.

It is evil.

Yadda yadda...

the 6.4 billion people on the planet who oppose it

There is no way that 6.4 billion people on the planet oppose it.

The fact that Japan buys off a number of tiny little poverty stricken states to get their whaling vote

Yadda yadda. Votes don't matter. Japan and others are going to quit the IWC if it fails to serve it's purpose:

http://www.pewwhales.org/pewwhalescommission/submissions/ICT%20submission%20to%20Pew%20Whales%20Commission%20-%20Jan,%202009.pdf
Brunobear at 10:53 PM JST - 29th June

davidattokyo: How many people in the world actively support whaling?

If Japan is just going to ignore the IWC if it fails to gets its way. That is a dire warning to the rest of the world that lives by the law.
davidattokyo at 12:14 PM JST - 30th June

Brunobear,

I think most people in the world have no trouble with the sustainable use of naturally renewable resources (of which whales are one). I don't think most people support the unsustainable use of such resources however.

The IWC has been breaking it's own rules for years, that's why whaling nations would quit it. When the moratorium for example was established it was supposed to be reviewed by 1990 with consideration to setting non-zero catch limits, in accordance with it's convention which says that such decisions be based on scientific findings.

Well it's 2009, enough whales of some species at least for sustainable harvest quotas, the science is clear, yet the IWC finds itself unable to set a non-zero catch limit for the whaling activities which it was established to regulate. The anti-whaling nations keep finding new and unscientific reasons to oppose. This being the case, why would you or anyone expect whaling nations to keep wasting resources attending it's meetings each year?
cleo at 12:45 PM JST - 30th June

I think most people in the world have no trouble with the sustainable use of naturally renewable resources (of which whales are one).

I could come up with a whole list of 'naturally renewable resources' the 'sustainable use' of which most people in the world would have trouble with.

Pet dogs and cats. Aborted fetuses, unwanted orphans. Fat removed during liposuction.

... all of which at present are allowed to go to 'waste'.
thedeath at 12:57 PM JST - 30th June

The japanese whaler’s idea of “naturally renewable resource” clearly far difference from majority of IWC’s view today.

After 1990 review of the non-zero catch the majority agree to carry on the banning in most part of the world.

That is the today rule. You better make sure you understand that. The rule before 1990 was expired already. Most whaling nations help establishes the IWC, ICRW turned their back on whaling already today. What hard to understand?

Why still keep referring to the old and out dated talking?

if you can't understand what is today people agree and talking and you want to keep the dying culture, then you clearly got the non-restrict hunting area close to home, why still ask for more at the other part of the world? Wasn’t that it corrected, I call it greedy. Don’t use the words scientific and research as a tool for your greed. It help nothing but only harm your believing country’s images.
thedeath at 12:59 PM JST - 30th June

sorry beloved country

not

believing country
davidattokyo at 07:53 PM JST - 30th June

thedeath,

The reality is that the anti-whalers never had any intention of lifting the "moratorium" after 1990, but they had to word it that way in order to con 75% of the membership into voting for the measure (that and other dirty tricks). It would have been against it's own rules to make it a permanent ban as well (this is something the whaling nations will inevitably point out when they quit).

So now we have the ridiculous situation where in 2009 the IWC's Schedule still contains an amendment to it which says "... by 1990 at the latest ..." simply because these words had to be chosen to impose a permanent ban under the guise of a temporary "moratorium". And there hasn't been a 75% majority since to be able to amend the wording or update the regulations. The intent of the 75% rule of the ICRW was not to enable nations that oppose the purpose of the ICRW to prevent it from functioning at all.

After 1990 review of the non-zero catch

A review never took place in 1990. What happened after that was the anti-whaling nations came up with new pathetic excuses to leave the "moratorium" in place. And they abuse the scale of their numbers to ensure that remains the case.

That is the today rule. You better make sure you understand that.

The ICRW rules state that any sovereign state that has adhered to the ICRW is welcome to exercise it's right to withdraw from the convention, and thus not be bound by any of it's (currently stupid) rules. This is eventually going to happen.

why still ask for more at the other part of the world?

Because that's what the ICRW was set up for, to enable cooperation to sustainably exploit such resources. If the IWC is no longer going to do what it was set up for, then nations that get fed up with it will simply quit - it's a matter of time.

Don’t use the words scientific and research as a tool for your greed.

There can be no sustainable use without research.
Brunobear at 03:57 PM JST - 1st July

thedeath: Beautifully said indeed. Poor old Davidattokyo's dentures will still be chattering, "whaling is sustainable", long after he has left the surface of this beautiful planet. The ocean waves will crash, the krill will continue to replenish and the whales will swim on hopefully for ever. All the large mammals on earth are at serious risk of extinction now because of just one, us humans! And we are the ones with the advanced brain. God help them!
thedeath at 05:09 PM JST - 1st July

hum! davidattokyo you seem to have problem keep up with what today people's talking, but only keep referring to the old and outdated regulation. Understand nothing of what is democracy mean, and the world has change. even Japan has change.

i also read the news about Japan at the meeting, and it just look similar to what JWB's admits did at the UN before the II-iraq war. Ha! people just laugh seeing that.

i will not go back to what many people have said. i ll keep it short with your new argument.

i know Japan has been threaten to leave for many year already. i hope this time she will leave for real. please do it. pleaseee. That won't prevent the mad sea dog from abusing the Japanese whalers anyway. Hope them happy dealing with the mad dog at sea!

Remember that, If you want to hunt it on an “international” water, you better make sure the majority on the international forum agree with you. or you can forget whatever shitty reason you want to make.

and you know? it take a grownup one to understand and accept the result from a democratic way of voting when it doesn't favor his or her views.
davidattokyo at 12:32 PM JST - 2nd July

Brunobear,

the whales will swim on hopefully for ever.

That's what sustainable whaling is all about.

All the large mammals on earth are at serious risk of extinction now because of just one, us humans!

One example shows the fallacy of that statement: Antarctic minke whales number in the hundreds of thousands - even according to Australian scientists - and are in no risk of extinction. They will continue to be in no risk of extinction due to human hunting so long as sustainable quotas are abided by. This is what the international community should therefore be ensuring, as at least this much should be acceptable to all (e.g. as a minimum).

thedeath,

Understand nothing of what is democracy mean

The international community is not a democracy, it is a collection of sovereign states.

And it's not like the majority of the world's people would ever vote against the sustainable use of natural resources. This is a principle that has indeed been adopted by the international community on occasion.
BlackOut at 12:49 PM JST - 2nd July

The international community is not a democracy, it is a collection of sovereign states.

no comment on that, many looser say the same, i can guess!

And it's not like the majority of the world's people would ever vote against the sustainable use of natural resources. This is a principle that has indeed been adopted by the international community on occasion.

it is pointless to say "nature resources", avoid saying "whales". we talk about whale and whaling. majority of the former whaling nations has changed, and they voted to ban the whaling in many part of the world.

whales in southern atmosphere are not japanese natural resources. open a map and look at it for your self where is japan. if you want to hunt, control, sustainable use or whatever you want to claim in the international water, then make sure the international community agree with it.
davidattokyo at 06:44 PM JST - 2nd July

BlackOut,

On the contrary, it is pointless to pretend that whales are not a natural resource.

Indeed the majority of the former whaling nations have changed. They run their economies on non-renewable oil extracted from the earth now instead of oil from whales.

So what? Various regions around the world for hundreds of years prior to the reckless actions of 1800's and 1900's whalers have utilised whales for food. Today there's no good reason why this should not continue to be the case.

whales in southern atmosphere are not japanese natural resources.

They are resources that the international whaling community agreed ought to be managed cooperatively by those using them.
BlackOut at 01:22 PM JST - 3rd July

yeah, you also a nature result too.

So what? Various regions around the world for hundreds of years prior to the reckless actions of 1800's and 1900's whalers have utilised whales for food. Today there's no good reason why this should not continue to be the case.

SO WHAT? if it is not on japanese water, who want to care about your reckless reason? and why people want to care anyway? it isn't on any one case.
BlackOut at 01:27 PM JST - 3rd July

They are resources that the international whaling community agreed ought to be managed cooperatively by those using them.

so you don't want to quit from the community anymore?

and why i can see japanese so angry when the chinese, taiwanese or korean want to manage natural result close to your water? they are also using them.