Japan and whaling

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Japan's prime minister has told parliament he will boost efforts towards restarting commercial whaling, despite a UN court order that Tokyo must halt killing whales in the Antarctic.

Shinzo Abe's comments on Monday were likely to cause dismay for those who had hoped the ruling by the international court of justice (ICJ) would herald the beginning of the end of the whale hunt.

"I want to aim for the resumption of commercial whaling by conducting whaling research in order to obtain scientific data indispensable for the management of whale resources," he told a parliamentary commission. "To that end, I will step up efforts further to get understanding from the international community."

Abe said that in contrast to the foreign perception that whaling communities mercilessly exploit the marine mammals, whaling towns show respect to the animals, with religious services at the end of every hunting season. "It is regrettable that this part of Japanese culture is not understood," he said.

 

I can't imagine Mr Abe lying, but is he lying?

[Curt 1]

They show respect to them by killing them.

 

[joshnii 2]

It's great that there aren't more important things to be done though, isn't it.

 

[Tubby Beaver 209]

oh well if they do religious ceremonies, it must be ok......Abe, you are an absolute tool (sorry Pies )

[rach 1]

I didn't realise this but apparently quite a lot of schools serve whale at kyushoku.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Yeah but it's not like it's every week.....once or twice a year (maybe a term....I've never seen it on kyushoku in Sapporo) and it's all the stuff that's been in storage for a year or so I was told

 

I've said it before but I don't have anything against eating whales on moral reasons, it's just that it's against international law. The "it's our culture, you don't understand" argument is laughable!! Like Japan is the only country that hunted whales in it's past....my home town of Dundee was the centre of the Scottish whaling industry right up thru the 18th and 19th century. The history and "culture" of whaling stretches back a long time thru the city but we don't anymore, because it's banned! It's against international law, also the meat itself is pretty toxic due to bio-accumulation of heavy metals such as mercury etc.

[Thundercat 60]

The thing is, the argument is not in defence of the tradition of hunting whales, it's in defence of the tradition of eating whales. That's the culture that us foreigners don't seem to understand.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

I'm sure people probably are whale meat more in the past.....to eat whale you have to hunt and kill them.....perhaps Abe doesn't understand

[Error404 0]

I read somewhere that there's thousands of tonnes of whale stored up somewhere for the few people that still eat it to get through.

 

Can't understand why the goverment would want to encourage people to eat it, with all the issues surrounding it. Though I suspect the reason comes down to $$ in a large part.

[pie-eater 207]

oh well if they do religious ceremonies, it must be ok......Abe, you are an absolute tool (sorry Pies )

 

Well, Mr Tubby, tools are often very useful.

 

And Mr Abe, let us not forget, brought us Abenomics.

[NoFakie 45]

I read somewhere that there's thousands of tonnes of whale stored up somewhere for the few people that still eat it to get through.

 

Can't understand why the goverment would want to encourage people to eat it, with all the issues surrounding it. Though I suspect the reason comes down to $$ in a large part.

 

Yeah, the reason its given to schoolkids is that there is no demand for it.

 

One of the original forms of sukiyaki was kamoshika, but no one eats them any more. Well, not openly anyway. It is possible for Japanese people to stop eating something.

 

There are so few people involved in whaling that its a mystery why they are allowed to embarrass the entire country for no particular gain. The whole issue is played as the patriotism card but its all bullshit. There wouldn't be freezer vaults full of the stuff if folks wanted to eat it. 100 yen sushi places are popping up all over the place as a new version of the "family restaurant", but none of them serve it.

[LiquidX 0]

How do Abe and cohorts get away with the bullshit?

 

[69 5]

The common response if you talk with someone here is simply that it's a traditional food... even if the people don't actually eat it.

Beyond that, and it's often banging head against door territory.

[seemore 66]

I think that we should eat baby seals surely they would taste better than big fat whales

[69 5]

It's just a non-issue for most people who have many more important things to think about.

 

Which makes it all the more baffling with they seem to want to make a fuss over it.