Japanese People Speak Out Against Whaling

Of course not, it's a debate about conflict of views between those who see no problem with the notion of whales being a source of food and those who see otherwise.

Bollocks it is.

This is ridiculous. Surveys by independant groups in these western nations show that only about 2% of the population actually knows anything about whales and whaling issues. The rest have no idea.

If a far greater number than 2% of the population did actually have a clue, the writer might have a point.

So therefore it isn't a tradition?

Does the author not recognise the organised whaling activities since the 1600's as being significant enough to constitute a tradition?

Or does the author think that a tradition is only a tradition if 95% of the people in the country have something to do with it?

I think most thinking people would agree that different areas on the same land mass can and do have differing cultures.

Don't tell Douglasred that

Absolutely. That's precisely why they won't be so daft to go out there and reckless decimate whale stocks. To do so would be to ruin one's business

So what?

What a nonsensical, illogical thing to say.

Just because whaling is a tradition for some people in Japan, doesn't mean that the rest of them renounce the right to catch whales too

Why shouldn't the Japanese be allowed to catch whales? What does the author think the ICRW is?

Bullshit again.

I wonder how the author would explain away the contaminated sperm whale meat not being put on the market earlier this year

'We do not intend to listen to any science that says whale numbers are increasing'

That's because it's quite reasonable

That is also quite reasonable

HAHAHA KPB

The IWC shares the whales around evenly.

Whales migrate through territorial waters and the high seas. Doesn't matter where you kill them, so long as it is sustainable.

Yes... see IWC

Absolutely. But with the nonsensical bullshit you are spouting I don't know whether the whaling peoples of Japan would pay a second thought to you.

Perhaps if you had something worthwhile to say...

Lol My 24 year old Japanese teacher saw the whales being exploited at Kaikoura.

Then she went home and had whale sashimi.

It depends on how much of your bullshit propaganda they have heard

I'm sure you do

What a load of nonsense

In addition, I wonder if the author would say that the Ainu culture is not important to Japan since only a few dozen people are left to carry on such traditions. I wonder if he disagrees with the government designating this minority culture as a national treasure?

As amply demonstrated by the lengthy part you snipped, the conflict seems to be much deeper and broader than just that.

Why?

Sources?

I think your figure is incorrect. Even so, 2% is a huge number of people AND the interest of the governments is important as well. And, wheter or not these people actually know anything about whales (and it is rather arrogant of you to assume they don't) the fact is that they are opposed to whaling, which is part of the writer's point.

Absolutely. See debs, when you try to stretch the definition of something, like traditon, as you do to mean anything you wish, it loses all meaning to everyone else

By the government of Japan and the industrial whalers?

Then it obviously is not a tradition for 95% of the people.

Right, so you obviously can't use the 'tradition' argument for 95% of the people. Don't you think that a Japanese writer in Japan would have a better grounding in the different traditions of Japan than you, debs?

I don't think he would disagree that Japanese whaling exascerbated the conditions.

They did it before.

Because a tradition is no longer a traditon if you do it for different reasons, with different tools, and in a different place (particularly when the 'traditional' place is still available. Don't hide behind tradition when there is nothing traditional about it.

They can't hide behind traditon. It is one less excuse.

Very numerous reasons. Where do you want to start? Nontraditional? Animal rights? Past exploitation? Ecology? Etc etc etc.

p.k.b

Why don't you ask them. You might have the chance to speak with some Japanese citizens with a different viewpoint than the typical government-sponsered one you favor so much.

They are differing viewpoints.

Bullshit. Every whale killed is one less for the public to enjoy (or for fellow whales to enjoy for that matter).

Yep, good ol' 'kill 'em high, kill 'em low, kill 'em everywhere' debs.

The same could be said for you debs. It is vso nice to hear some actual Japanese voices out of Japan instead of your wannabe voice spouting off industry propaganda.

Must be one of those atypical Japanease who eat more than 1 gram per year.

ESAD

A refreshing alternative to the wannabe voice of debs.

Richard Hayduke Lives! 'Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work and man can only mar it.' Theodore Roosevelt

Which has diddily to do with commercial Japanese whaling.

Richard Hayduke Lives! 'Getting even is not the best revenge. It is the only revenge.' George W. Hayduke

Ainu culture doesn't have a great deal to do with this topic but the point does illustrate quite clearly how stupid it is for people to say 'oh, but it isn't Japanese culture'

When people said this with regard to the Ainu they nearly destroyed them and their culture, trying to force Japanese ways upon them.

Thankfully it seems that they have learned from this.

Hopefully the 'anti-whalers' will also learn from their mistakes

It isn't for the 99% of Japan that is related to commercial whaling.

I'll bet they didn't mind having sattalite TVs *forced* upon them. And not eating whale is going to destroy them?? Plllleeeaasseeee!

I'll never see the fixation some people have on the past and hanging on to outmoded thinking. Just what has killing whales by these people (who presumably used to need to whale for food, but no longer need to)contributed to anything? Just like the Makah in the US, who no longer need whale for anything, their insistance upon taking what they don't need provides a wedge for the whaling industrial complex to begin decimating the whales yet again.

Richard Hayduke Lives! 'No compromise in the defense of Mother Earth.' Dave Foreman

How can you spend so much time here and still come up with a no brainer like that?

For someone to say that this is a Japan versus the west issue is plain stupidity.

Why might they try to tell people that that is the way things are?

Well, readers can decide...

Posted them a million times already. You ignored them in the past because they didn't say what you wanted to hear. Remember them now? If you really want me to post them again, I will oblige. Just give the word

It's an astounding minority of people

No, they said they don't. I took their word for it.

The majority aren't opposed to whaling once people tell them about it. Funny that.

Oh dear....

So I suppose you think the Ainu people of Japan don't contribute traditions or culture to Japan either?

Ah, one of the 'if it isn't old it can't be culture or tradition' brigade.

That's right - are you advocating the destruction of all minority cultures?

Oh, another one of the 'people aren't allowed to experience other cultures' brigade.

Cancel all your overseas trips everyone

He has completely skipped more than 300 years of history, and paid no attention to the areas of Japan where whaling is a prevalent part of the local culture.

You might like to ask yourself why.

Is it because 'it's not important'. Clearly not. Is it because 'it's a good way to mislead people'? That's my guess - and coming from this organisation headed by Greenpeace activitists it doesn't surprise me that they would resort to this sort of nonsense.

He said they were responsible for it.

And that's precisely why they won't do it again.

Are you stupid Rich?

Do you make the same mistakes over and over, never learning?

Even if you are, it doesn't mean that whalers are as stupid as that too

The Japanese have always caught whales for food - the reasons are the same.

Oh, another in the 'traditions and culture aren't allowed to evolve' brigade.

Go to Tibet.

See a world heritage site - a temple with a roof of corrugated iron.

Presumably you don't think this temple is worhty of it's status?

Eating whales is quite traditional

Yes they can!

So you think tradition is a collective thing? But only collective amongst the people who fall under the same political borders??????????

You obviously haven't thought about this at all

Shown to be nonsense, as above

Animals don't have the right to not be killed by other animals

A reason why exploitation won't happen again

Isn't giong to be adversely affected by limited whaling

etc etc etc

It is bullshit - they never said that

Doesn't fit in with the propaganda I think

The people I have talked to about it are in several cases not even Japanese anymore. They have little to do with the government - indeed most Japanese people feel alienated from the govt. They still think sea food is sea food though. Funny that...

That's nonsense too.

Firstly, it's wrong to assume that whales are there so people can enjoy watching them. Secondly, just because some people want to watch whales, does not mean that other people can not hunt a few, providing the stock is robust.

If you have a whale named bob and you kill it for food in coastal waters or when it is out at sea, the net result is the same. Bob is dead and eaten.

Where whales are killed is irrelevant, what matters is that it is sustainable.

HAHAHA You will listen to this voice because it says what you want to hear, but you will discount every other voice of every other Japanese person?!?!?!

She's one of those average Japanese people who sees nothing wrong with utilising marine resources, both for viewing pleasure and for food.

Was that supposed to make sense?

???

?????

You don't have any idea about the Ainu do you. If you are going to have any chance of understanding my point you might have to figure out exactly who they are, and what the government's attitude was in the past to the Ainu and their cultures and traditions.

You might like to top it off by considering how the government view's its past handling of the Ainu, and what their current position is.

Me neither. Just because something happened once, it doesn't mean it will happen again. In fact it often means that people behave differently in future.

The Ainu aren't the ones campaigning to be able to eat whales Rich.

Despite Japanese people also having whaling traditions?

Oh dear... I'm not even going to explain how stupid this assertion is

Until today I was unaware that the Ainu ever ate whales. The Ainu aren't used as you suggest they are - you are just making it up

Actually...what I said was that the norwegians and japanese whalers were the two highest *killers of whales* during the 20th century.

terminalethargy(Douglasred)

Yeah. Whatever, Douglas...