Do the Japanese know the world is disgusted by whaling?

Question

No one really believes they are 'researching' when they harpoon whales and drag them onto boats, then take them back to the Tokyo markets for soup.

Thanks Gene H but I am not American.
If it were a 'cultural' issue the Japanese would get down into the water and kill the whales themselves just like the people of the Farrow Islands (Danish) and the Indigenous Americans do, but the Japanese send big boats thousand's of miles from home instead because it is about the other 'c' words, consumerism and commercialism.

Answer 1

It might be part of their culture but they can do it in their own waters not Australia's or the Antarctica that is a wildlife sanctuary set up to preserve the marine life.
Gene do you know to kill the humpback whale they stick something up their rectum and fill them with air until they explode and thats humane.
Also it is part of the Native Americans culture to kill buffalo on the open plains imagine the uproar if they took the practice back up again everything changes for a reason.

Answer 2

Yes, many realize other countries are not happy with their stance on it,but I find many Japanese people to be proud (not necessarily a bad thing) and sensitive to avoid direct confrontation in regards to discussing the issue, while other Japanese (whaling communities, nationalists) are sort of pigheaded non-conformists (not like we don't have that in the political right in America).

That said, Gene H ought to stick to baseball and not get so excited about something he doesn't fully understand either.

And Joriental wrongfully connects BSE and bird flu epidemic to fears about fish and thus its okay to hunt whales ... Many cultures who live near rivers and the ocean still rely on fish (which is a large population of the world) especially in countries that don't traditionally have beef or pork or chicken (which, JO is technically a "fowl" and not a "meat" but that's just semantics). There hasn't been a significant change in countries that already eat fish -- except for the increased Mercury in certain tunas and other fish, which tends to be on the rise in Japan. It's just fears of BSE or bird flu have led to a decrease in the export of beef and chicken, but the demand for beef and chicken hasn't suffered much. And the escapist argument that whales eat too much fish? That's absurb. More bottom trawlers gut whole colonies of fish faster than a single whale can in a lifetime. Mankind is the greatest hunter and spoiler of marine eco-culture in the world. Japanese whaling industry slaughters way more whale meat than the native Inuit and American cultures you mentioned. It's not just about cultural protection, its about global perspective.

By the way, has ANYWAY ever seen whale soup? I haven't, and I live near Taiji, perhaps the most famous fishing village in Japan.

Answer 3

I don't think it's good to make the whaling issue look like a war between us and the rest of the world. I don't think it makes any sense to bring up completely irrelevant topics in an attempt to refute the anti-whalers, either. Your arguments are flawed at their core, honestly. When we're just talking about whaling issues, what's the point in bringing up topics like Iraqi war, BSE, bird flu and all that sort of things? What the hell do they have to do with the issues? Frankly, you just need to know how to make more coherent arguments!

Answer 4

The cool thing is that not every non-Japanese thinks the way you do, and we will be a thorn in your side as long as you persist in your anti-whaling posturing.

It's the IWC that effectively made Japan "lie" about researching whales. Who cares that everyone knows? Japan hardly hides that. What are you going to do? It's like how the drinking age in the U.S. is 21. Utterly insane. The fact is people drink before they turn 21. The law makes young adults into criminals for doing something they would naturally do anyway.

I don't know how popular soup is though. I think whale is usually used for sashimi, or fried up.

I'm personally a lot more disgusted by the U.S. invasion of Iraq than the killing of a few whales for food. You make it sound like the food isn't appreciated. These aren't sloppy Westerners, throwing out half the whale, forgetting to say their thanks before eating.

Answer 5

1. most of them don't know that the world is disgusted by their whaling because the japanese language news media here don't give aDamnnn when japanese doing some thing bad to the other. they will pay attention only when foreigner hurt them. if you don't believe me, ask the mongol Yokosuna!

2. i never seen they make whale soup too. they make it shushi, whale can, and dog food.
that is how far the intelligent of japanese marien scientist can go

3.you right, no one really believes that they are researching. not even japanese people believe in that bullshit.
but there is a rule here in japan.

"japanese can lie to anyone to get what they want, but no one can lie to them or they will bombard with complain and complain."
they will track you down back into your home country, interview your mom and dad asking for any cause of why you lie to them.

this is the real japanese culture as you might know from many answers above me! again, if you still don't believe me, ask the mongol Yokosuna what happened after japanese found that he lie about his back!

Answer 6

It is a political issue. It has nothing to do with food, meat or research. It's all politics.

I believe it's controversial in Japan too. After all, most Japanese never tried whale meat, and those who did usually didn't like it because of the bad taste. I read somewhere that Japan has 100's of tons frozen whale meat in warehouse which is simply difficult to sell.

So the Japanese whale lobby is only serving themselfs.

Answer 7

Yes, nationalism is one of the reasons Japanese whaling continues. The more shrill the anti-whaling protests become, the likely it is the whaling will continue. Getting behind whaling is an easy way for Japanese politicians to wrap themselves in the flag precisely because whaling disgusts the world.

Answer 8

IWC has the list of endangered whales. And actually not all whales are endangered and IWC do not ban whole whaling. According to the IWC's rule and regulation, whaling nations including Japan are doing whaling.
Alaskan Inuit and Makah people, Native American in WA, have/had also their right to do whaling.

For soup? Kidding. Never seen that kind of soup, but fry is delicious.
But the whaling is not for food. Japan and other whaling countries are trying to prevent extinction of whaling. It's their culture. And also trying to protect marine resouces, too (your fish on your dinner).

After the BSE (mad cow disease) and bird flue epidemic, the people in the world are preferring eating fish to meat. Whaling nations know some whales are consuming enormous marine resources including fishes of our meal every year. As the crude oil, the price of fishes are rising gradually now.
"Fish" and "fresh water" will be precious resources in near future.

Look how much one whale consumes fishes. It can be hundreds kgs to tons.
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/_files/whale_marine-1.jpg

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Ram. You are wrong. It's not mine, but from NHK documentary. And whaling nations have the data. Japan tried to submit it to IWC conference several times. However, they didn't allow Japan to do so. And one more thing. Whaling (eating whales) is since Jomon era, not western influence. The bone is foud with Jomon people.
And can you find the data the whales are endanged with Japan's whaling? I don't think so. If not, comparing Inuit and Japan are no meaning. 1 whale and hundreds whales are same. They are both huntings and their livelihoods.
Anyway China and India becoming huge now. Vista countries follows. We have to controle our marine resources.

Answer 9

whaling doesn't disgust me one bit and I'm American I'm just not a tree hugging American. While I was in Japan I ate whale meat and damn was it good. If I had the chance now, I'd go eat more. Also I don't believe American culture is better than anyone else, I believe its different and i personally love it except the tree huggin politically correct aspect, other than that its loads of fun ;P

Answer 10

Yes they do, here is a quote from an article in the Japan Times,

"These whales don't have to die," said Junichi Sato, a spokesman for the environmentalist group Greenpeace in Tokyo. "Humpbacks are very sensitive and live in close-knit pods. So even one death can be extremely damaging," he said.

You can't condemn a country for something a small part of it's population does.