First whaling fleet leaves Japan since International Court ruling

Japanese fishing fleets have launched their first whaling hunt since UN courts called an end to the killing of whales in the Antarctic.

Four whaling ships set forth from the fishing town of Aykawa in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, north-eastern Japan on Saturday morning. Despite the International Court of Justice’s recent order for Japan to cease all research whaling activities in the Antarctic Ocean, this whaling mission has gone ahead, towards the Sanriku coast, which is not covered by the International Court’s ruling.

Such ‘research whaling’ missions such as this one are intended to prove that the whale population is large enough to justify and sustain commercial hunting, hence its exclusion from the court ruling. However, some activists have suggested that the spring ‘research’ is nothing more than a way of continuing whaling through a loophole in the law.

The organizers of the whaling mission deliberated for some time over the specifics of the spring whaling event, eventually deciding  to proceed with research whaling this spring by cutting back on the number of mink whales to be caught by ten, from 61 to 51, due to the controversy surrounding the program.

The fleet’s departure marks the start of the country’s spring coastal whaling program, which has divided opinion across media across the world, attracting large amounts of criticism from anti-whaling countries such as Australia.

The scenes at the Ayukawa port, however, were far from hostile. In stark contrast to the departure of the wintertime Arctic hunt, which regularly sees violent protests from activists chasing down the fleet in an attempt to end the hunt, this weekend’s springtime departure was peaceful, with no protesters to be seen.

Japanese response to the International Court’s ruling was strongly mixed, falling ultimately in favour of the whaling fleets. Some Japanese governmental members dismissed the court’s ruling as nothing more than an example of cultural imperialism by the West, while local residents in Ayukawa expressed fears that the decision could ultimately ruin their livelihoods. Whaling forms a significant part of Japanese cultural heritage and economy, and is for many citizens a crucial source of income. Ayukawa was badly struck by the 2011 tsunami and earthquake, and has been recovering ever since: many locals say that without whaling, the community’s entire existence would be put at risk.

“No matter what the (ICJ) court ruling was, all we can do is let everyone see that we’re still hanging in there,” said Koji Kato, a 22-year-old whaling crew member. “People from outside are saying a lot of things, but we want them to understand our perspective as much as possible. For me, whaling is more attractive than any other job.”

Tokyo has called off its next Antarctic hunt, scheduled for late 2014, and has said that it will be modifying the specifics of the mission in order to make it more scientific. But vessels would still go to the icy waters to carry out “nonlethal research,” raising the possibility that harpoon ships might return to the Antarctic the following year.

Sources include: Japan Times, Asahi Shinbun

——————————————————————-

At The Japanese Connection, we have over twenty five years’ experience in providing professional, accurate and reliable Japanese interpreters and translators working in a wide range of fields. We can offer you a high-quality Japanese language service tailored to meet your individual interpreting or translation needs. We also specialise in providing Japanese interpreters in London, UK. For translation and interpreting services in other languages, please visit our sister site, TJC Global.

Members of: ATC, ITI, Proz

See our LinkedIn profile or visit us on Twitter

Poll reveals support for whaling in Japan

A recent survey for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has found that more Japanese people support their country’s whaling expeditions than oppose them, despite low consumption of whale meat. The survey of 1,200 Japanese people, released just before the whaling fleet is expected to depart for this year’s hunt, revealed that while 18.5% opposed whaling, 26.8% agreed with it, with the remainder not expressing a view.

In the light of what were perhaps disappointing results for anti-hunt activists, IFAW tried to put a positive spin on the news, focusing on the statistic of the 88.8% of those polled who had not bought whale meat in the last year. “The people of Japan are taking whale meat off the menu,” said Patrick Ramage, director of the fund’s global whale programme. “This is great news for whales and one of the clearest signals yet that the whaling industry is in its death throes.”

Greenpeace Japan expressed similar views, adding that the “mountain of whale meat in frozen storage” is significantly increasing. While the meat from “scientific” hunts is currently only sold to a small group of traders, it is thought that next year it will be sold directly to individuals and restaurants, and the quantity provided for school lunches will be doubled, to improve funding for the expeditions. Speculation that the industry’s poor financial situation would lead to a cancellation of this year’s hunt was dismissed after Japan’s agriculture minister, Akira Gunji, said it would go ahead as planned.

About 900 whales are killed each winter by Japanese hunting fleets. Though commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission over 25 years ago, a loophole in the moratorium allows Japan to hunt whales for “scientific research“, even though the meat is later sold on the open market to fund the expeditions.

The fleet usually leaves at the beginning of December each year, to hunt whales in the Southern Ocean. However the exact date of this year’s expedition has not been announced owing to fears that it may be disrupted by the militant conservationist group Sea Shepherd. Since 2005 the group of environmental activists have confronted whalers in attempts to stop the hunt. This year it will commit four vessels and more than 100 crew to the campaign. New Zealand also recently has joined Australia in attempting to block Japan’s whaling expeditions in the Antarctic following the failure of diplomatic efforts.

Sources include: The Guardian, Japan Today

————————————————————————-

The Japanese Connection offers a wide range of professional Japanese translation or interpreting services worldwide, with specialists in many areas including environmental and governmental fields. To find out how our services can assist you, please visit our website or contact us directly by email.

Members of: ATC, ITI, Proz

See our LinkedIn profile or visit us on Twitter