Monday May 28, 2012

NihonRyu's past comments

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    I am actually quite relieved that we don't have too many Muslims here in Japan yet so I don't see a clash here anytime soon and hope Japan thinks about putting some restrictions on the number of new Muslim immigrants as large numbers of them could potentially affect our society as it has in some European nations. I just don't think Islam is very compatible with Japanese society and work environment.

    My experience hiring muslims here in Tokyo were that they asked for too many special favors for e.g. setting up a special prayer room in the office just for them to pray every day and permission to go off to mosque in the middle of the work day every Friday for a few hours, creating eating decisions difficult at a group setting for people due to food not being halal, pork, etc.. looking uncomfortable around the tradional afterwork kampai beers with other coworkers, etc..

    I guess the issue is many seem to have a difficult time seperating their religious needs/practices with their work environment and tend to ask their employer to amend to their religious needs compared to practicing their religion on their personal time on the weekend or after normal working hours, etc.

    All in all I probably would opt to hire a non-muslim v.s. a muslim if all other qualifications being equal as it seems they were harder to integrate successfully with either the Japanese or multi-national gaijin teams due to their strict adherence to religious practices.

    I am sure that is not true of all Muslims but many that I have met and interviewed for positions seemed to ask for special treatment to accomadate their religion as a basis for employment.

    Some additional thoughts: I heard in the U.S. some Muslim Walmart employees working at the check-out would refuse to handle/scan pork or alcohol and created some issues. I believe this was just a few handful of cases but was thinking if the nurses from Indonesia/Malaysia that will be coming to Japan to help off-set the lack of nurses here begin to refuse helping old oji-sans and oba-sans to eat their Charsiu ramen as it contains pork or refuse to help them sip sake or something this would create a serious problem for us here as they would not be able to do their job adequately or as expected.

    Posted in: Do you see a clash of civilizations coming between the Islamic and Western worlds?

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    Many thought this guy had escaped to Korea under a false identity given his Korean roots and relatives there. Glad he is finally caught and brought to justice.

    Posted in: ICHIHASHI ARRESTED BY POLICE IN OSAKA

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    DavidatTokyo: Your points are very well said!! Thank you!

    DickMorris: Fox News, Bill Oreilly? You gotta be kidding, we know where you stand. lol.. Btw- Japan rarely sends shoddy goods to the U.S. If yout hate Japan so much why are you even looking at this forum?

    Please respect people's different cultures and view points, again this is about sustainable commercial whaling. I am pretty sure we Japanese respect American Citizen's right to bear arms and other cultural differences that might seem unfathomable to some Japanese. There are other more pressing world issues that need to be solved in the world today than to fuss over hunting a few thousand whales out of a population of over a million. Think about it: There are millions of people throughout the world that are dying from preventable diseases, poverty, war, etc.. How is one whale's life that can feed thousands of people have more visibility and more top of mind than the human suffering that is occurring today? It is politically motivated and in my opinion we Japanese should never ever succum to the kind of bullying over practicing our own culture especially if it is not endangering any species. Get over it! There are many other pressing things in the world to have an outcry about...

    In fact, I hope someone institutes a eat whale once a week campaign in Japan to instill our solidarity on this issue and provide more visibility and drive demand. Ultimately, I think we Japanese need to stand together on key issues such as this and show that we aren't going to get bullied. My family and friends will be trying to eat whale atleast a few times a week going forward even though it's pricy as a political statement and have talked to my local supermarket to keep bringing more of it in. I encourage others to do the same and try to eat whale a bit more ofen if you can.

    Posted in: Japan catches 59 whales off Kushiro

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    Toxin- There is plenty of information on Japan's whale eating culture please read my earlier posts and see some of the links I provided. Please check out the excellent production by NHK that was done this year. The vast majority of this information is however only in Japanese. Culture is not static and is constantly evolving, there may be periods and areas that ate more or less whale than others in Japan prior to transportation, refrigeration and proximity to the sea, etc. The point is does 100% of the whole country need to have eaten whale for it to be part of our unique culture?

    Our whale eating culture is real and is our own business and anti-whaling folks should not dismiss it like it doesn't matter. This is the same mentality that almost wiped out the entire indigenous population and culture in Australia and NewZealand. I don't see how taking 1000+ whales out of a population of a million+ in the middle of the ocean far from any international boundary should rake up this kind of emotional racket from those countries who so conveniently decided that whaling was inhumane all of sudden when they were the ones most responsible for their demise earlier this century. I think Japan's research is to validate the sustainablilty and resumption to properly managed commercial whaling. That's what it is and they should be upfront about it. It's time the IWC comes to terms that their organization to have any validity needs to look at both sides of the issue or what is the purpose of its existence? If there is no view to look at whales as a manageable resource that can be exploited in an optimal way without endangering their population, what's the point?

    This is the same fight that many Native Americans and Alaskans had about their traditional right to whale. Thank god, Americans understand their plight as indigenous people who were nearly stamped out by the whiteman's expansion in the americas and this right for them to hunt as they used to is still honored. The U.S. coast guard actually protect the Makah hunts from the SeaShepard like terrorists trying to halt their hunts. (Way to go!) I hope the new Japanese government has enough balls to send the JSDF to escort the Japanese whaling fleet as well and protect them from the SeaShepard's antics. It's time to get serious and defend our rights and cultural interests from these loonies! These days we just give in and fold on almost any international issue or dispute. Today's persisitent culture of passive impotence to the West or our Asian neighbors have not gotten us anywhere. It's time we Japanese begin to realize this and demand more from our leaders and realize a stronger mature Japan that can be on a more equal footing on international issues.

    Posted in: Japan catches 59 whales off Kushiro

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    Well it seems people have very set opinions on this subject. Certainly violating another country's territorial rights to exploit a resource is wrong. However, arbitrarily claiming an entire ocean area in the southern hemisphere as an exclusive whale santuary that resides in agreed upon international waters is another. I believe the Japanese should not target vulnerable whale species nor those species that could directly impact other nation's vital ecotourism. However, the facts seem to support that the Minke whale population is huge and taking a few thousand would have little impact on the population. There are numerous fishing ships operated by other countries just outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone, when does Japan make a stink about that? It's not like Japan is claiming a huge area in the North pacific as an exclusive fish sanctuary are they now?

    I too have discussed this issue with many Japanese and what many Japanese tell foreigners (tatemae) especially those that harbor strong anti-whaling feelings v.s. what we discuss amongst ourselves (honne) is very different. I assure you that most Japanese will support a pro-whaling stance as long as it is sustainable and does not endanger these magnificent animals. For my part I try to encourage all my gaijin and Japanese friends to try it if they have not already and help educate them on what the real issue at hand. In either case, whale is tasty and good for you. http://luna.pos.to/whale/jwav8suzu.html I sincerely hope Japan does not give in to the bullying and unreasonable tantrams of the anti-whaling nations and continue to flourish a new generation of whale eating culture. We should be open and proud of our whale eating heritage. I see some of the pathetic school lunches that Japanese kids are served now a days, I sure hope whale is back on the menu to foster a strong and able bodied generation. Again, I only support my stance if whaling is sustainable and only to particular species as we should never go back to the time when many of our great whale species were nearly extinct. With modern research and scientific process, I believe commercial whaling can be sustainable for those counrties that come from a whale eating culture.

    Posted in: Japan catches 59 whales off Kushiro

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    Potsu- You are wrong: http://luna.pos.to/whale/jwa_trad.html The Japanese had a substantial whale eating culture that cannot be denied. Also, as stated earlier there is a recent well made NHK series documenting Japan's whale culture. If you can understand Japanese it would be good to view this and make your own judgements after having all the facts. Your facts that Japan had no substantial whale culture come straight from SeaShepard's site and is untrue. Try again.. I would think Japanese experts would know best about our own culture given the material of records and research are mostly Japanese.

    Posted in: Japan catches 59 whales off Kushiro

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    Btw- I don't know who David@Tokyo is and that is not me. I see very few posters with any Japanese perspective on English forums such as here and its high time someone Japanese post here. It's a shame too few Japanese have the ability or willingness to debate emotional topics such as this on a Japan based forum because its in English...

    Btw- For those of you interested in understanding more about the whaling culture in Japan. I would recommend visiting the town of Wada in Chiba prefecture which is a prominent whaling port and a fairly close drive from Tokyo. You can also try out the many whale restaurants there. (Good food, try it before you knock it please!) All the whales served there are from local catches so no worries. No southern oceans whales there.

    Posted in: Japan catches 59 whales off Kushiro

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    Imacat- Do you know how big the International waters is in the Southern Ocean is? Are you saying the entire Southern Ocean region should have no sustainable fishery of anykind what so ever and this be decided by the few nations that happen to be located in the southern hemisphere? This is a huge region not part of their 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. It's not like the Japanese whaling fleet is sailing past Sydney harbor with their middle finger pointed at the Australians.

    Think about this. Do you know there are twice as many Minke whales in the world than there are Aboriginies? Australia nor NewZealand really have a perfect record on protecting their native peoples a culture and civilization that was nearly wiped out and most still living on the fringes of your societies today. Maoris also traditionally ate whales. Perhaps if they had been able to modernize as the Japanese had yet retain their traditional culture you would have NewZealanders eating whale today and support a sustainable whaling industry. Both Maoris and traditional Japanese whaling cultures were similar that they both revered the whale and was vital as a food and resource. I guess when your land and culture is overrun, assimilated and replaced by foreign people, your religion and ideals repressed, losing 98% of your land, maintaining the tradition for eating and hunting whale is long lost afterthought at best.

    My point is, Japan was able to modernize without being colonized and dominated by Western traditions and belief systems. Our aboriginal traditions and cultures such as whale eating is still retained. Do you know how much whole sale slaughter of whales was going on by the U.S. and many other western nations last century? Their operations were huge and global wasting most of the animal using only relatively small parts.

    Again, my point is if scientific backed sustainable whaling can be accomplished in the Southern Ocean in international waters far from anyones backyard so to speak what is the point of your argument? It is simply emotional. If other sustainable fisheries can go on in international waters as it is defined today, I don't see the problem with whaling either. Getting greedy and overhunting whales and decimating their popultation I am severly against. Sustainable whaling, I am for.

    Posted in: Japan catches 59 whales off Kushiro

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    JayJayE - Are you saying Japan is whaling within the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone off of Australia and NewZealand? I think not. My understanding is that they are primarily whaling for Minke whale which according to the American Cetacean society number in the million. (Their population being most abundant in the southern hemisphere.) Over fishing is a serious issue worldwide but the discussion here is how is taking a 1000+ Minke whales even putting a dent into the million+ minke whale population worldwide? I understand the abhorrence to hunting the rarer whale species that are endangered and need to be monitored. Are you saying all 1million minke whales are critical to Australia and NewZealand's whale watching industry? I always assumed the greys, dolphins, humback, etc. were vital to coastal whale ecotourism.

    What if the research shows that sustainable amounts of whaling would have negligble impact on the whale population or ecotourism? I would still guess that most anit-whaling proponents would still cry foul and find any excuse possible to stop any kind of commercial whaling full stop because it is an emotional issue at the heart of the matter.

    Posted in: Japan catches 59 whales off Kushiro

  • 0

    NihonRyu

    First, I'd like to say that I enjoy eating whale and buy it every chance I get and more importantly let my gaijin friends either living here or visiting to try it. Most of them all seem to agree that is tastes pretty good either sashimi with soysauce and grated ginger or marinated, etc.. At least in my local supermarket they carry whale almost daily and is quite popular which is why it sells out most of the time.

    I believe Japan should just quit the IWC as it doesn't really seem to be an organization that would actually support a sustainable whaling industry even if it is completely sustainable from a scientific point of view. They should quit like Norway and Iceland. I recenly watched an NHK special on whaling culture in Japan historically and in modern times. Whale meat, dolphin meat, etc.. have been a tradition for many Japanese people for thousands of years and are greatly revered and respected creatures. Japanese have traditionally used every part of the whale just as Native Americans, Alaskans and other hunter gatherer types did before. Many on this forum, i suspect foreigners really are choosing to ignore our right to practice our culture even if it includes eating whale, dolphin, etc.. I do believe our culture of eating whale should not threaten extinction of a species or lead to it's decline. I think the whole whale issue is just bullying by Western nations, the very same nations that only a century ago hunted and killed whales throughout the world's oceans only for their oil depleting their stocks worldwide.

    Japanese put up with this bullying because they can be bullied. Proper re-education of young Japanese is in order as it seems many Japanese today are too afraid to tell foreigners that they eat whale or think sustainable whaling is ok as to not offend the scary gaijin. I am so sick of spineless Japanese that cannot form a proper opinion about something I think is important to preserve in our culture and should stand-up and not be afraid of open and potentially hostile discussion.

    Bring it on!!!!

    Posted in: Japan catches 59 whales off Kushiro

Follow us

Facebook
Twitter

View all