An International Controversy | ZENOAQ [Nippon Zenyaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.]

Wherever they go Japanese people are always asked about whaling.
Do they agree? Do they support it? Why do they like whale meat?...

Years and years ago, especially in the immediate post war period when Japan suffered from extreme poverty whale meat was a good, cheap source of protein. In fact many middle aged citizens can still remember those school lunches where whale meat appeared in various forms. Stewed whale, whale cutlet... elementary school children were served the meat in various forms, and as with any food some liked it and some didn't. It was nothing terribly special.
But as the nation developed and food supplies became abundant people began in general to turn to tastier morsels, especially those that did not take to the flavor of whale meat to begin with.

The whaling industry once booming began to dwindle. There are many reasons for this but one of the major factors was probably the decrease in demand. This in itself sheds light on the Japanese public stance on whaling... "I really don't care." Many Japanese see and hear about the aggressive tactics of some anti - whaling groups vis - a - vis their whaling boats in the news. And many Japanese are appalled by their militant actions, but fail to comprehend the true meaning behind these actions.
The Japanese media fail to give a full report of what is going on and why. As mentioned in an earlier column, the average person on the street would probably not worry too much about not being able to eat whale meat again. Nor would they lose any sleep over "a dying cultural tradition." Unfortunately there is so much mutual misunderstanding over the decisions and actions of a small number of people that the whaling issue has now become "Japan v.s. the world." The small number of people referred to here would be those in politics and in the government who continue to insist on the need for whaling, be it for scientific research or for other reasons and those who attack the decision of those people by whatever means possible, both legal and illeg. There was an incident sometime ago where Green Peace members stole into the offices of a private courrier service to dig up proof that the crew of the research boat were sending whale meat back to their homes after coming in to port from a "scientific expedition." Needless to say this was a totally illegal endeavor and served to undermine the integrity of the environmental group in the eyes of the Japanese public. This tilts the Japanese attitude in the wrong direction.

Citizens begin to feel that they are being picked on and in fact being attacked by irrational environmental groups and animal welfare charities around the world. The feelings will arise irregardless of whether or not the people crave whale meat. On the other hand the majority of Japanese people do not in fact crave for whale meat.
But does the world know that? Wouldn't it be so much cleaner and wiser if there could be a way for the anti-whaling groups to incorporate the citizen's lack of interest in obtaining this food to suit the needs of their campaigns? How could it be done? Well, for one thing, focusing on the fact of how impossible it is to humanely slaughter a whale instead of an environmental resource issues may be a start. If the people are made to look closely at how much an individual animal suffers public opinion will begin to flow in a certain direction.
True, many groups will say they already have ... but not enough that the average Japanese citizen knows or is aware of such. If the Japanese media is unwilling to report on this there should be a way to show independent films or distribute literature.
In any event the mutual misunderstanding and misconception has gone on long enough. Someone must make a constructive move now.

Objective

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