I have yet to find many articles on this issue coming out the territory it is occurring in, that is except for Australia, but they are about the only country in their area that are whale advocates instead of hunters. I thought it would be interesting to see what a media outlet from a whaling country has to say about the controversial issue. An article out Japan blames the West in the fight over the whales inhabiting our international waters.
This story highlights the 1982 Whaling Moratorium and how it is something the Japanese have been up in arms for for quite some time. The Moratorium states that “This provision will be kept under review, based upon the best scientific advice, and by 1990 at the latest, the Commission will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the effects of this decision on whale stocks and consider modification of this provision.” The Japanese see this agreement as unjust. The story frames the West as seeing the moratorium as "a moral victory for the protection of whales". The author goes off on a sarcastic side note stating, "(How ironic that the IWC Scientific Committee was stifled by anti-whaling nations in the formulation of the moratorium and Japan was forced to comply through intimidation.)"
The Japanese clearly ill-receiving our messages just as we are their motives.
The article goes on toexplain how even though the Japanese government was forced to call off their scientific whaling program in the Southern Ocean earlier this year because of attacks from the Sea Shepherds Society, they will continue to resume the program soon. When they relaunch their mission they will also be sending extra ships to defend against the Seas Shepherds. The Japanese are pulling out the forces they need to to complete there mission, and it will not be hard to calling in reinforcements. In a recent poll of Japanese people 52% are in favor of whaling, 35% are neutral to the idea and only 13% oppose it.
Through this article we learn that in the eyes of the Japanese whaling truly is research. The authors states that "Ignorance (and denial) about the actual function of the IWC and the scientifically unfounded rejection of sustainable whaling in the form of the 1982 moratorium shapes the West’s justification for fervent criticism against Japanese scientific whaling." Japan truly believes that they are out to do a good deed in the name of science and are being made a fool of by the Western states. They feel that they have been backed into a corner and are a victim of this international phenomenon.
I think that the issue of whaling in Japan is quite interesting to examine because it truly brings to light how different our culture in the United States is from that in Japan. Furthermore, I really like that you examined an article from Japan and how they defend themselves in regards to this controversial topic that is viewed as completely unacceptable and morally wrong in the US. I am curious however if there were any other articles released in Japan other than this one by Japan Today? I think it is something to take note of if media outlets are tiptoeing around the topic. Perhaps if that’s the case they know they have something to hide? I also wonder if there are journalists that agree with the anti-whaling views of Australia and the US and what they might have to say, or if due to cultural aspects that would be unacceptable to publish.
ReplyDeleteSomething else that stood out to me when reading this post was your comment about the Japanese ill-receiving our messages. I feel as though that could mainly be caused by a cultural disconnect. I feel like Japan has their mind set on this topic and the purpose of whaling and do not think there is any reason to listen to what outsiders believe. I believe that there are most likely things that the US does that Japan does not agree with and I wonder if the US would handle the criticisms in a similar way.
Lastly I am curious if the 13% of people in Japan that do disagree with whaling would take action on the issue and provoke a change internally or if outside entities stepping in, like the US, are a necessity.
-Zoe