JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
-
- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
-
- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
-
- Full-time English Teacher - Osaka
- Epion English Language Schools, Osaka
- Salary: ¥200,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month Depending on your ability and experience
0
Hikozaemon
Zenny11 - the mercury discussion was a 5 minute afterthought at the end of the documentary. If the documentary were really aimed at changing Japanese attitudes, it would have spent 60 minutes focussed on that, and not arguing that dolphins are mystical creatures, and then painting Taiji as a town full of deranged racist fanatics.
Takes away from the message a little when you waste time on shenanigans, and shows the agenda of the filmmakers is fundraising at home rather than persuasion abroad.
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
Zenny11 - not just that. Supposing they are a global worldwide majority. So what? I mean, the majority of people think it's fine, why should we tolerate people with different or dissenting views?
So like you say, even if the presumption that this is a billion to one thing, what right does that give the billion to take away the rights and freedoms of the one? That's the old missionary led colonialism, that this debate fundamentally represents.
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
I saw the Cove, no blind eyes. It was filmed with hidden cameras, for the first time ever is the billing, and none of what you describe happened. I don't think the anti-dolphin hunting agenda of the Cove is in doubt, and I think their footage is credible.
I don't have the same faith or value on anything to come out of Sea Shepherd.
The story here is about the Cove DVD, and the debate is whether the Cove will convince Taiji residents to change their views. All I have said is that I don't think it will, because I don't think the climax scene of that film approaches "tolerated" cruelty I know exists the world over in other cases.
It is nothing like what you described in your post - that's not willfull blindness. And you haven't addressed anything I said above.
Peace
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
Shrkb8 - the slaughter scene was not 10 minutes long in total, and they picked up and stacked dozens of dolphins so I think you are exaggerating.
As for "the rational should prevail", no, I disagree, this is entirely my point. I think there should be measurable objective criteria for what people can and cannot kill and how they go about it. For example, killing endangered animals or unsustainable hunting, needlessly cruel hunting - these are pretty much universally accepted.
Beyond that, in terms of what animals outside that you can and cannot kill, that comes down to culture. I'm not of the view that the majority of the world should impose it's view on minority cultures of what people should think.
It's the old missionary mentality - destroy local religions and customs, "save" their souls by making them like the rest of us, for their own good, and so that they don't offend us.
Your arguments cross the barrier from accepted international minimum standards, and into the realm of the missionary mentality lecturing to people that they are different and that is wrong. And that is why this issue is unresolvable, until people defending the right to have the choice to hunt dolphins give up.
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
By the explanation given in the Cove itself by Japanese fisheries, the hooks used to pull the dolphins up double as spears, also used to pierce the vital organs of the dolphin and kill it instantly - the catch and kill is a single action. There was one stabbed dolphin that they failed to pull in, and tried to swim away - it died in less than a minute - another testament to the effectiveness of the spears used and how they were used by the fishermen. Very sad to watch of course, but still by any measure of animal hunting, within the bounds of what is accepted in hunting other animals, and still quick speed.
I think I understand your view of the cruelty is as much in how they are herded to the Cove, as the killing itself. Well, yes and no. People use the same techniques to herd rescued pilot wales away from sandbanks for example. The noise does seem to disturb the dolphins, but the goal, in the case of rescue or slaughter is the same - to herd and steer them in a certain direction. And remember, the not all the herded dolphins are killed. About half are sold to acquariums around the world (Taiji being the number one supplier of acquarium dolphins around the planet). I don't think that the use of sonic walls to herd dolphins is again, of itself, necessarily cruel.
If you are arguing that any taking of life is cruel, I would find it harder to argue against that.
My problem here are the legions of people that insist that dolphins are separate and different to other animals, because they are smarter or cuter or whatever. That's crap, just people trying to impose culture. I think more than 90% of the people who scream about this issue on this site fall into that category, although I don't think that includes you.
Peace
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
I think that the video evidence shown in the Cove shows that the methods used are quite humane. It was quick and professional. Much more quick than anything I've ever witnessed on wild animal hunts I was taken on as a kid. I'm not buying the cruelty argument on this.
This is a simple, you can kill animals or you can't issue. The techniques used in Taiji are fine, as killing animals goes.
The issue here is you have some people being culturally selective about which animals are okay to kill, and are trying to impose their values on people in other countries.
Peace
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
Who cares? Supposing dolphin hunting didn't start until last year.
So long as it is done humanely and sustainably, there is no good reason not to allow it.
The arguments about "tradition", and "specialness" are moot.
The only impact showing the Cove DVD to anyone is likely to have is to either make them squeamish about eating any kind of meat, or it's going to piss them off for out of towners sticking their noses in where they have no business, dictating what they should and should not do without any objective merit.
This is a simple clash of values - one group desperately wanting to change the values of the other, one wanting to be left in peace. Simple neo-colonialism.
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
In the Cove, they discuss how the hooks used to stab the Dolphins were purpose designed to kill dolphins as quickly and humanely as possible and that the fishermen using them were skilled at aiming for vital organs.
Watching the slaughter scene, I saw nothing that convinced me otherwise. It was amazingly quick - industrial efficiency. Even the one foundering dolphin they couldn't pull up appeared dead in less than a minute, which is a testament to the effectiveness of the spears used and how they were used.
If your problem is with the fact that they are killing dolphins at all, then sure, you would have a point, but I'm not convinced that the methods or manner of the slaughter shown in the cove left much to be desired.
Peace
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
Thanks Sarge. $2,000 bucks a day is a pretty good wage for hired guns from Niger and Chad.
It's actually not dissimilar to how the Sultan of Brunei held on when things got hairy there many years ago (he paid Gurkhas in that case to defend him against his own military).
Peace
Posted in: Gadhafi forces retake towns near Libyan capital
0
Hikozaemon
Smorkian, NHK last night said that the foreign mercenaries defending Ghadaffi are getting US$5,000 a day.
"Right this way, your excellency..."
Posted in: Gadhafi forces retake towns near Libyan capital
0
Hikozaemon
Shrkb8 - I disagree. I thought the slaughter was impressively quick. The fact that those guys get so many dolphins in the boat as quick as they do is impressive. I think that final scene would only really hold shock value for people not familiar with animal slaughter.
Cloverwings, what slaughter is necessary? As I said above, I'm not "pro" killing dolphins per se, I'm just not against it. Lack of necessity isn't a reason for opposing anykind of animal killing.
I think the fact the movie creates an impression of people in Taiji as "ignorant" and "crazy" like you say, is precisely the problem with the documentary.
I'm all for a documentary making the argument to Japanese on the merits of not killing dolphins. But calling your audience those kinds of names, or telling them it isn't necessary isn't going to do it. The movie had a brief bit at the end that would have been more effective for that.
The reason this issue never gets resolved is the complete lack of empathy for the point of view on the other side, going both ways.
Peace
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
Thon mate, hisashiburi! Yes and no. Consider the whole working poor issue, guys on contracts losing money working, never knowing when they are going to get cut - the Akihabara killer for example. I think those traffic conductors and car park attendants and stuff are great for elderly supporting a pension, but lowering the minimum age for people working to survive is opening the system up to further abuse.
Peace
Posted in: Japan's jobless rate stays at 4.9% in January
0
Hikozaemon
Oh yeah... "spoiler alert"...
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
Hey Cleo - this is my first time back here in a while. I see the moderators are a lot more proactive than before, but I think that is a good thing, since the trollfest that this site became is part of what put me off in recent years.
FYI - the first two lines of the post above are to you, the rest was to another guy, who was deleted, and my post was kind of edited into one single response to you. Credit to the moderators, I don't know how many people they have patching up posts but they are doing a pretty good job and I think it is what is needed to get this site back on track.
Anyway, I of course know where you are coming from on this and have complete respect for you and your position, and understand not wanting to watch the dolphin snuff stuff. I can tell you that I have heard rumours of complete reposts of the movie on Vimeo, so worth a look there. The "dolphin" snuff stuff really is only at the very end of the movie, in a single 10 minute scene. There are no shock cut edits to it or anything - the movie very deliberately avoids that, most likely as a way of raising the importance and impact of the single, sombre slaughter scene right at the very end. It is definitely possible to watch, knowing when the scene will start and to skip it - or for anyone else to edit out that scene (although obviously, for the film makers, that one scene is the "mission" that the entire movie is about).
The first quarter or so is about the status of dolphins and Japan's position on it in the IWC, presented in a mocking light. Then there is a long, maybe about a third long explaining why the center character has dedicated his life to trying to rescue dolphins, and why Taiji is where they focus their attention, which is interesting, and probably the part most interesting to you. The next block of the movie is where it comes off the rails a bit - it turns into an adventure action film about trying to get cameras into the bay where the slaughter takes place in Taiji, and staff trying to deal with apparent intimidation by locals. This is the part of the film that really makes it pointless showing in Japan, unfortunately, but makes it exciting to watch outside Japan as an eco-activist adventure movie.
From a Japanese viewer perspective, the most relevant part is the 5 minute bit at the end where they address domestic Japanese concerns about mercury and other chemicals. It is well stated, and if the movie was really aimed at Japanese, is what the other 90 minutes should have been. The central guy in it mentions the matter throughout the movie in interactions with Japanese, but the movie editors relegate it to a postscript in the movie.
Oh yeah, and private space. Hehe, indeed, it seems true enough that there were locals very aware and sensitive to what the activists were doing. I think Private Space is the biggest issue - he really becomes the face of Taiji in the movie, and that is what upsets the residents. Of course he's a nutter, but again, it all just goes into showing the activist as heroes fighting bad guys, rather than making any kind of case that might persuade anyone in Japan.
Incidentally, while I think the film is unhelpful, I also hope that the DVD being delivered around isn't just an unedited version of the dolphin snuff scene itself. That would be even more obnoxious than sending the movie around.
I think it is really a lost opportunity - the elements were here to make a better and more persuasive movie that people in Japan would actually pay more attention to.
Peace
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
Hey cleo, some of the comments of other posters get cleaned up quickly. But I don't think it is going too far to say that the film portrays Taiji and its people in a negative light.
What I have trouble with is:
1) I'm not pro-killing any animal, but I'm not against it either if it is done properly and the animal isn't endangered. Dolphins are no exception. Not being opposed to killing a species of animal isn't the same as being pro-killing it.
2) That this movie itself was well made. It wasn't. I think it was edited in a manner that was deliberately antagonistic towards the people of Taiji, as is this publicity stunt.
The main criticism throughout was very specific - and it was about the negative portrayal of the townspeople of Taiji. And I think it was a valid criticism. I don't blame the central figure in the documentary for this, he appears to be a bit more understanding about working in Japan, but the producers obviously took an editorial line that hyped up that Taiji is "hostile territory" for the activists, and this is what caused the upset.
I understand the upset of the protesters and posters against the dolphin hunt. They think that killing dolphins is like killing people. I get that.
Where is the understanding from those people for people that don't see things their way?
Peace
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
genkigonzo - look at the comments above - the movie clearly has a lot of people convinced that the people of Taiji are like gangsters. Which was precisely the number one criticism of the film in Japan.
Not many people watching the film like yourself will bother questioning what is going on beyond the camera lens, and the editors of the Cove clearly took a line of portraying the entire town in a negative light in order to reinforce the "heroism" of the activists there. That was an editorial decision, but ultimately, it renders the supposed "point" of the movie - ostensibly to show Japanese people the supposed barbarity of the hunt, completely meaningless.
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
Paulinusa - it must have been tough when you were in Taiji, finding how everyone there was hostile to you as a foreigner for trying to shine light on their tradition.
Unless of course that is a "fact" you learned from the editors of the Cove...
This highlights exactly my point to shrkb8, the documentary sought to portray the Japanese government and residents of Taiji as sinister, not to engage or persuade them, and that is why I can only conclude that this is a publicity stunt for the folks back home, just like the movie itself was.
Some people believe anything they see on tv.
Peace
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
Shrkb8 - On motives. I'll grant you - the makers of the Cove generally seem to want to make the documentary, primarily for the dolphins themselves. Hence the huge emphasis on what special animals they are throughout. Then yes, you have the story of the redemption of Louie. But it gets murkier when it starts getting into the realm of persuading people of the need for change. I mean, you have tearful young good looking western animal rights members that westerners can relate to reacting to the footage and so on.
But the portrayal of Japanese throughout the movie swings between mocking and sinister. It isn't like they couldn't have aimed the movie at a Japanese audience, spending more time talking to the town counsellors worried about mercury and so on, but it gets a total of less than 5 minute editing time, tagged on the end, almost as an apparent editing afterthought. In the 90 minutes up to that, you have the mocking treatment of Japanese representatives at the IWC and government people giving their side of policy on the issue (accompanied by playful music and dismissive put downs by westerners cut in immediately), and then a very long drawn out "Mission Impossible" style portrayal of Taiji as some kind of hostile territory where the young adventurer conservationists set up the cameras - the whole town from the police, to fishermen and others are portrayed as sinister. This is what caused the biggest issue with screening the movie in Japan.
So whatever the genuine sympathy for dolphins, the documentary was clearly made in a way intended to portray Japan as the bad guys. Which is funny because they are meant to be trying to change Japan. It's a personal conclusion, if their approach is to kind of "Sea Shepherd" the whole thing and show themselves fighting against the bad guys for the dolphins, all I can conclude is that they are seeking support at home for their fight against Japan, rather than trying to reach out to Japan. Hence my feeling that the movie was more about fundraising than trying to change Japan through constructive persuasion.
Moderator: Readers, we remind you to keep your comments focused on what is in the story. References to other animals are not relevant.
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
I've seen the film. The toxicity issue gets brief mention, but the film is 70% "dolphins are special, like people" and 25% seeing animals die is traumatic. The other theme of the movie of course was the pretty clear portrayal of Taiji townspeople as behaving like gangsters.
The whole point of the Cove is to raise money from outraged westerners at the expense of the people of Taiji - it is not aimed at trying to persuade Japanese about anything. This is just another stunt to sell more copies of the DVD and drum up more donations back in the US.
Peace
Posted in: 'Cove' director gives free DVDs to Taiji residents
0
Hikozaemon
The US should be talking about Cuba, that is in many ways another Libya, in spite of how Castro and Chavez are held up as heroes by the same people who worship Gadhaffi.
You are attacking the US for lack of sincere ideolism, but at least they are talking the talk. France has been very quiet as it has been watching it's very good friends, first in Africa and now in North Africa disappear one by one. I would say better to be a hypocrite at least saying the right thing, than a country that is consistently and silently always on the side of the bad guys.
Posted in: U.S. denounces Cuba's treatment of dissidents