David @ Tokyo

Granted that some western media are rather blatant in their opposition to research whaling, the Japanese media coverage of whaling issues in general and this case in particular also leaves something to be desired. I like reading this blog but it disappoints me that your fervour in exposing western bias blinds you to the same problem when it occurs in Japan.
 

I don't think Japanese media sees whaling as such a big issue as the western media does.

Whale is just another type of meat, like horse meat after all. No special attention given to that either. Just because the westenr media gives it a lot of attention, there is no need for the Japanese media to do the same.

Thanks for your comment.
 

Well, of course the issue doesn't have to be given the same weight. My feeling though is that the media here do not do a very good job of explaining to the Japanese public the reasons for western opposition to research whaling - whether right or wrong - and the importance attached to this subject in other countries. Opposition to whaling is often presented as the preserve of a few marginal and extremist organisations, which is the view the government espouses. This ignores the reality that mainstream opinion in the West is not favourable to whaling and organisations like Greenpeace enjoy quite broad backing, certainly on this issue. Many Japanese would be surprised to know that the scientific aspect of whaling is widely viewed as a sham abroad. These are facts the media ought to report, even if they hold a different view.
 

Absolutely the Japanese media isn't perfect, but personally I have more problems with the naive, unworldly nonsense that is often written in Japanese editorials than reporting on the facts.

I can't find myself in agreement that "the media here do not do a very good job of explaining to the Japanese public the reasons for western opposition to research whaling". Mainly because I don't agree that your evaluation itself is really so accurate that it ought be reported.

There are such a multitude of reasons used by the anti-whaling movement to oppose whaling, but firstly with the issue you raise I personally have seen in the Japanese media explanations of the complaint that research whaling is "commercial whaling in disguise". I recorded a prime-time TV program a few weeks back where this was discussed together with other aspects of the issue. I also remember seeing other programs in the past that also note this argument. I expect such examples could be found on YouTube. Granted, it doesn't get noted in every single news segment related to the whaling issue, but that's more a function of time constraints than an intent to not report on it, in my view. There is a long history behind the whaling issue and to randomly pick up certain complaints and introduce them to the audience without providing the historical context and sequence of events would be as misleading as the western media. This isn't a simple issue but a long running convoluted one.

Secondly, in my view "research whaling" isn't the issue in the first place, but just one of the more popular lines of attack currently. There was opposition to whaling before 1987, if you recall, and nations that do not conduct research also are criticised by anti-whalers (the exception being the noble American whalers). This will be neutralised to a large degree if Australia continues through with its ICJ case (and lose, as I expect). Nonetheless the anti-whaling movement will still exist, albeit with new and other excuses for opposition besides this one. I can't imagine anti-whaling Australians will suddenly become pro-whalers once a court confirms that Japan is right and Australia is wrong regarding Article VIII of the ICRW.

Thirdly, is there really such "great importance attached to this subject in other countries"? Besides Australia where the issue was turned into a political football ahead of the 2007 election, it doesn't get such huge coverage globally so far as I can see. Even in the USA these days the focus is more on production of compelling reality TV than saving whales. Even in his home country Pete Bethune appeared to be regarded as more as poser than a hero. You note that "mainstream opinion" is not favourable, which is fair comment, but not being favourable is not the same as being strongly opposed. I suspect that most don't really care and wouldn't be greatly disturbed were the IWC to again pick up it's mandate to manage limited whaling.

Finally, you say, "Many Japanese would be surprised to know that the scientific aspect of whaling is widely viewed as a sham abroad." I think many of those Japanese would be those with little interest in the whaling issue in the first place.

Thanks again for your comments, although we seem to have differing views here.
 

Evol-D - fail. Whales are not dolphins.
 

As I have stated previously I don't look at horses and whales as different to other animals...

You do can eat a minke beef...

However, I can't understand why the Japanese do such cry over the GP activists? They should let them go...OK, criminals...I have actually been asked to do exactly the same thing for Greenpeace, stealing GM seed from a grain company, but refused...

As Frode Pleym , GP Nordic CEO , stated in a Norwegian newspaper: " The whaling issue is just a circus issue"!!!!

I think activist must have the right to protest for the sake of democracy:

I think this anti-whaling article is quite nice:

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/tokyo-two2.html

The Japanese should just invite the criminals to a cup of coffe and needn't be too upset with such childish , little civil unobedience, that's good for anti corruption....

No, I don't support the anti whaling propaganda, I do support all cases against animal cruelty and conservation.
 

Hi Ann - tried to send you an email just now - but it bounced!
 

Hi David,
I have a new e-mail adress, will try to reach you tomorrow...

Why I said it must be a civil right to protest , is that Swedens Biggest Animal Rights Group's press officer ( Djurens Rätt) have reported me to the police that I write about them on the Internet, se my article:
http://broadbill.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/mail-till-lilla-aktuellt-angaende-oljeskadade-faglar/

They sued me for this, actually I doubt the judge will accept it as they again write lies. The press officer calls herself animal nurse, when in Swedish law it's forbidden to do that if you are not authorized, which this woman aint.

The police called me and asked to come to the police station, I refused, I said I rather kill myself than coming down to the station when iam not guily of anything.They asked the police and asked them that I must be banned to write articles etc etc

Will se what's gonna happen...
 

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 

Hi Ann,
Well so long as one is not doing anything illegal then I support protest as well. As for GPJ here they were pretending to be "investigators" working for the "public good" (as opposed to being anti-whaling campaigners!), and they committed trespass and theft but didn't produce any evidence of wrongdoing that was prosecutable by the authorities. Other than their own crimes.

GPJ have been full of it claiming that this will have a "chilling effect" on civil rights etc etc blah blah blah.

The GPJ clowns would never have been on trial and convicted had they gone about their activities in a legal way. GPJ has been anti-whaling for years, it's not a coincidence that the first time their crimes are exposed they get put on trial for it!

I removed your last comment to protect your email address, I guess you don't mind.
 

Those GP clowns are such fools.. There are lots more pressing environmental issues than whales.
 

Indeed, and the alledged "embezzlement" that GP were complaining about isn't even an environmental issue. Thanks for the comment.
 

Regarding what Anonymous had said in the 1st few comments. I used to think like that as well. The problem is the public opinion in this case is not really the opinion of the public. I'm a good example. In the past if I were asked about whales I would've said NO to whaling, because I have no idea what's going on and that's supposed to be the right thing to say. A lot of my pub mates, who were way ahead of me on this, as well as this site, turned me around and I think this would be a much more realistic reflection of the majority in the UK, if the whole information were widely presented and debated.

We are anti whaling so far as the most vocal campaigners go, which is political in nature. The rest is just pumped up from there. Anti whaling "opinion" in the UK has to be one of the least democratic opinion advertised by the campaigners, partly because we don't know what's going on or too busy doing other things to object.

So if it's that irrational, why does nothing change in the UK you might ask. I think it's mainly because it's a minority issue, which just reinforces my point.

We may be an anti whaling nation but don't underestimate the willingness of the secular objective thinking folk. In this area I think even the US may be more religious by nature. For the uninitiated, any position other than anti whaling isn't even a choice. How democratic is it as a public opinion, then? Of course "We" would be anti whaling, because a choice isn't given in the first place.

Just to end on a light hearted note. If I'm labeled anti whaler on the virtue of being a brit, I would think it's a racial stereotype. The scary thing is it's probably true as well.
 

"media here do not do a very good job of explaining to the Japanese public the reasons for western opposition to research whaling "

That's probably because the reasons are nonsensical and rooted in culture to begin with.
The "humane methods" is pure bs.
The Hg is also pure bs.
The "fake science" has no backing in fact.
These are all rationalizations because anyone with a brain can see that the argument "whales are really cute and special" doesn't hold much sway. Especially when you're advocating violence, like SS (and GP in the past).
David also brings up valid points.
I watched a Beat Takeshi show myself which gave the podium almost entirely to a group of Aussies and Kiwis. In the end, the came only ended up coming off as bigoted, self-righteous, and full of hubris. The climax was when one of the Australians told a Japanese woman to go home and change into a Kimono before she's allowed to speak.

Anyway, great point on the "tokyo two" -- we've been calling them the "Aomori Thieves" elsewhere.

Can't wait for an update on if and how media in Japan reports this latest SS debacle.
The email from Watson to Bethune blames Bethune for the collision itself -- calling Bethune negligent.
Watson also has the original copy of Bethune's statements -- the ones not in the official court record. The ones he altered at the last minute to omit references to Watson.
I guess that's what happens though when your lawyers are being paid by somebody else. Conflict of interest and all that.
 

"I think activist must have the right to protest for the sake of democracy"

Indeed they should, and last I checked -- for all the stigma about protesting in Japan -- they do have that right.

Protesting, however, does not give you the right to steal. Nor trespass.

In my opinion the animal rights movement is mostly just an excuse for various people (generally extremists) to aim their vitriol and [often racist] hatred at other cultures in a way that is socially and culturally accepted.
It's analogous to joining the military because it's the only legal way to kill somebody (I'm not saying this is why people join the military -- just comparing the concepts.)
 

I say just may justice rule, I have had enough of hatred and racism....the Swedish police was OK and deemed the animal rights group wrong and me right....I can write so to say free speach language...the AR people answered me and wrote back SIEG HEIL!!! Scary! I have the IP adress and the law says that fscist / nazist symbols or language is forbidden in the law.

As a matter of fact I think the AR people are such zeros, so I don't bother, otherwise it would be very interesting to see what a lawyer would say about such language....
 

Hello. Sorry for the question - probably it doesn't matter to you. But I represent one Russian web-site http://win.ru/en/index.phtml and if you'd like to comment the reaction on the Russian president's visit to Kurily islands among Japaneeze society - we'd be grateful.
Best wishes anyway)
P.S. By the way: may be you'd like to publish something on our site? Translation into Russian is possible.
Best regards,
 

Марат , привет

I've not myself talked with any Japanese people about that yet, although it's in the news and I'm sure that the ultra right wingers here in Japan will be very annoyed about it.

I'm not sure what the Russian line on it is, but according to what I've read about the issue in the past, the Japanese side of events says that the USSR came in and took over the islands at the end of WWII in a land-grab, basically. Thus Japan wants the islands back.

I'm not sure if Russia has any basis for it's regarding them as Russian territories, other than that they "invaded" and took them.
 

I think what makes me smile most about your blog is how well you adopted the language of suppressants within Japanese society. (Not all Japanese are one and the same despite the brainwash to suggest so!)

"Humble" ... "Arrogant" ... oh, how they sting! Yes, let us pull out our hammers and bang those nails down.

Three of interesting additions to a complete discussion of the dolphin and whale slaughter issues come to mind immediately.

One might be to look at the Japanese establishment, media and people's attitudes towards social injustices, social activism, even civil disorder, the rights and abilities of people and societies to protest about that which they feel strongly about ... and may well be correct to protest about.

Amakudari cronyism, tax payer's money being used to support an obsolete industry and the LDP's encouragement of throwback conservativism from rural and fishing communities are just three.

Another is philosophical. What would have happened if Japan was allowed to mature on its own as a society, as it had the right to do, without the intervention of the Western powers, and what philosophical values - and societal ethics - it would have developed on its own long standing Buddhist foundation, rather than stitching together a body politik piecemeal from European sources which were at the time unresolved and going through their own turmoil.

One suspects a purely Japanese model would have been more compassionate and sustainable than the early Western Capitalist-Industrialist-Imperialist model. The problem with "Japan" as it is perceived now, is that it is no longer Japanese.

Lastly, (loathed as I am to use the term) what "the Japanese's" relationship to "nature" as a whole - flora and fauna - which, in truth, is largely compassionateless, adversarial and highly destructive.

The crumbling nation has been converted into a concrete lined and reinforced factory-battleship by who appears to be military civil engineers. The ruthlessness and silent efficiency with which "problematic" wildlife is dealt with, from domestic strays to endangered bears, must be the last remaining vestiges of Meiji-style Imperial aggression.

The indignant accusations that both Greenpeace activists and The Cove's makers make me laugh. Naughty Greenpeace having the tables turned on them and punished for "stealing" ... when Every Good Japanese⁄™ knows that one should just turn a blind eye to corruption and say nothing for fear that the whole of the State and society with fall down upon ones head if one stands out (let alone stand up for moral purposes) ... The Cove being cricitized because it "cheated" by using "sneak cameras" ... when Every Good Japanese⁄™ - or at least the approved media - knows that one must only see what one is given to see and report what one is given to report!

I mean ... WTF ... how is one meant to expose and oppose corruption, and make positive change, except by stepping out of line ... by being that 'Proud Nail' which breaks the hammer with its head!

Oh, did I forget for a moment? We Japanese are not meant to think, never mind question ... just pay taxes, work 16 hours a day and consume the spoils of the Western world.

Industrial whaling is not Japanese. It is a shame to the Japanese. It is destroying Japan's reputation and standing in the world. It is exposing the ignorant and corrupt underbelly of our society.

What the cronies in Kasumigaseki and their media mob accomplices are confusing, is nationalism and brute capitalism, whipping up patriotism as a guise to support later.

Thankfully the entire stinking industry will die in a single generation. Not thanks to Sea Shepherd but as all the young men leave it for a better, more civilized life.
 

There is no one more "Japanese" than a Gaijin playing the Big Man in Japan.

Knowing what sort of man is attracted to playing the Big Man in Japan that does not say much.
 

Anonymous, you might want to take a step back and take a good hard look at your long comment from another angle. It reads like an attack on a culture with generalizations turned into rhetoric. Joining dots as you see fit, making a list of potential issues in a culture from a certain perspective can be done on any nation. Soft comments like "Not all Japanese are one and the same" does not lessen the general cut & thrust of such outbursts.

The fundamental flaw of people like you is to assume that the acceptance for whaling ties in with a regional generalization. You forget that an objective thinking also derives the support for whaling.

Many of us who don't object to whaling have nothing to do with the culture and characteristics you describe, making your argument instantly moot. Some of us could belong to your own culture. What were you going to do then? Make a list of the flaws in your own culture and link them to whaling too?

All that is left is the anti-japan overtone in your comment. Whether you intended it is irrelevant. It's just ineffective.
 

Anonymous, are a Greenpeace Japan member?

People are free to protest about anything they like. Greenpeace Japan has "protested" against whaling for years, in a range of ways.


As much as the majority of people in Japan disagree with Greenpeace Japan's crap and BS, Greenpeace Japan was never stopped from continuing it's activities.

As for the case in question, a couple of people who happened to work for Greenpeace Japan and believe the official Greenpeace mantras trespassed on private property and uplifted a package, which they had no right to do. A month later, they claimed the package was "proof" of a crime by others. OK, said the authorities, we'll investigate. Professional investigators, far more impartial than the anti-whalers of Greenpeace Japan, looked into the matter and found the claims to not warrant further actions. However, the Greenpeace Japan actions did warrant further actions. We can not have a normal society if any old group of people with a chip on their shoulder can go around "investigating" things and commiting crime in the process.

If it isn't enough already, the judge in the Greenpeace Japan trial noted that they were not correct to conclude the package was evidence of any illegal doings. Yet still Greenpeace Japan refuse to accept it. It's their right to appeal it, but they are wasting time and money.

Greenpeace Japan are more than welcome to complain and alledge corruption or whatever they want for their fundraising purposes. The point that seems to have evaded you is that they could have made their ultimately wrong allegations without the illegally stolen cardboard box of whale meat.

And had they done so, they wouldn't have been convicted of crime.

That's simple stuff, and has nothing to do with "nails". Greenpeace Japan has existed in Japan for some years, despite being a very annoying "nail", wasting lots and lots of time and energy of people with better more productive things to do.
And it is put up with.


But there is no reason for anyone, including you, to think that just because *they* think they are wonderful that they can ignore the law that other mere citizens have to abide by, and other people's rights. They can not. No one can.

It's like the dude who just leaked the video of the boat collision at the Senkaku islands (or do you wanna call them by their Chinese name? Diaoutai or whatever it was). In his case, the majority of the Japanese population were probably happy to be able to see the video and understand with their own eyes what happened there. Admittedly in this case it was an objective thing - a video of a collision - unlike Greenpeace's highly impartial claims of corruption based on a cardboard box containing some whale meat and other unconfirmed hearsay.

But this dude who leaked the video has probably gone and broken the law, and thus he has been getting similar treatment by authorities as to what the Greenpeace Japan organization got for it's indescretions.

Yet his case is much stronger. The video was of much more interest to the population than Greenpeace's ultimately false allegations of massive corruption inside the scientific whaling operations.
 

Obvious correction: highly impartial -> highly partial
 

And one more thing to "Anonymous" - posting what appears to be insults without even putting a name to your posts says a lot more about you than your insults say about me.
 

Likewise, above I wrote "civil disorder". What I mean is "civil disobedience" (市民的不服従).

It is very clear that what the Greenpeace activists did was not theft as their intention was not to deprive the rightful owner of their property.

It is equally clear that what they have been subjected to by the colluding forces of the media and establishment is the equivalent of a social death sentence ... or at least would have been a few years ago. Now, people tend to think more, don't care and understand the concept of civil disobedience better.

However, if they were working in a Japanese company, their lives and careers would be over. The purpose of such treatment and judgments is to set a very clear and harsh example to dissuade civil activists. The pair of you seem to know very little about Post-War social activism and the state of civil society in Japan.


To be honest, I knew nothing about the Greenpeace Japan incident until promoted by you both to look into it.

I read the defendants were detained for 26 days - 23 of which were without charge - and intensely interrogated day and night for a total, often tied to chairs, for about 200 hours. That there were no lawyers present, and that no recordings were made of the interrogation process.

I wonder how many developed nations would find such treatment of acceptable (except, of course, the USA as long as you have to be non-White and possibly Muslim).

What was the "crime"? Of "stealing" a box fraudulently labeled "cardboard" and handing it over to the authorities! In any other advanced democracy, they would have received a reward for being good citizens.

But what made me smile the most, was the picture of the black outed document gained under Freedom of Information.

Welcome to Japan, gentlemen. That is Freedom of Information Japanese style.

From: http://www.greenpeace.or.jp/press/releases/attached/dossier2-web.pdf


johngrey,

"You forget that an objective thinking also derives the support for whaling."

Can you translate this into English? It makes no sense at all. If you are Japanese, please speak in Japanese and do not use computer translation.
 

One other point (this form appears to have problems accepting lost posts),

In Japan, a judgement such as "1 year sentence suspended for 3 years" is essentially an admittance that there was no case, or no case worth prosecuting. It is a punitive strike that can be held up against someone's reputation and used to discredit them ... as you are doing here Mr David ... but nothing else.

Do you publish your personal information anywhere on this blog, Mr David?
 

Anonymous,

People who wish to contact me can leave a comment with an email address, and then delete their comment after doing so to protect their email address. The comment reaches me. It's at my discretion whether or not I reply. As for yourself, since you are using an Anonymous name, there is zero chance that I would contact you. I've also got an account on twitter.

Your argument that "what the Greenpeace activists did was not theft as their intention was not to deprive the rightful owner of their property" is bogus.

a) Unless you are one of the Greenpeace activitists you could not know what their true intent was. You have denied being a Greenpeace activist, so we can rule that out.

b) The Greenpeace activists did procede to use the stolen property for their private ends, and they did deprive the owner of his property. They did not merely submit it to the police as their claimed "evidence" - they first produced one of their glossy public relations documents designed to raise funds and generate their incomes, splashing full cover pictures of the stolen property all through it. They used it at their public relations exercise. It took a full month after the theft before Greenpeace finally submitted the stolen goods to authorities - and only after being prompted to do so by the authorities.

c) The Greenpeace activists also committed trespass as well. I note that you skipped over that. In the real world of justice, people can not just ignore facts that are inconvenient.

Greenpeace had a very fair hearing by the media - up to the point that they revealed to a degree the extent of their illegal actions. The stolen whale meat package proved nothing that Greenpeace claimed, only that Greenpeace commimted theft themselves. (How many other crimes have members of this organization committed in the past without being caught?)

This wasn't civil disobedience, they behaved as if they were professional investigators, trespassed on private property and stole. Stealing is not civil disobedience. If theft were "civil disobedience", then where do you draw the line? If it's OK to infringe on other's property rights, then is it OK to abduct people, torture them, murder them? (I hope not.)

Again, it's simple stuff. Don't steal, and you won't be prosecuted for stealing. Thinking highly of yourself is not an excuse to commit crimes that other people also can not commit without punishment. Greenpeace Japan activists are not above the law. It's that simple.

Whinging about the "tough" treatment by authorities after you have committed a crime rings hollow.
 

You obviously left your objectivity in bed when you read through Greenpeace's propaganda. You suggest the box Greenpeace stole was "fraudulently labeled" as "cardboard"

The item for domestic shipment WAS a cardboard box. Greenpeace tried to make much of this, yet, just think normally for second.
a) The level of detail to which the customers and transportation company decide to label their packages is entirely their private business. This was a domestic shipment. It's not like these labelled packages required to go through any customs checkpoints on their way to their final domestic location.
b) An inverse check - how many of the cardboard boxes that didn't contain whale meat were labelled in a similar way? Does the Greenpeace propaganda tell us?
c) Who is more stupid? A person who "tries to conceal" the 23 kgs of contents in a cardboard box with a label of "cardboard box", or the people who think that another person had intended to conceal 23 kgs of contents with a label of "cardboard box"?

This sort of "evidence" is the stuff of school children playing detective games.

And as I noted above, Greenpeace didn't hand the stolen property over to the authorities until they were asked to do so after they had already broken their "scandal" story to the mass media to much (utimately misplaced) fanfare, a full month after the theft. I think there is a lot to the story about the stolen whale meat that Greenpeace hasn't told us. It doesn't take a full month to bring your allegations forward, unless you need a month to make up a story. Judging by the "cardboard box" angle, one month wasn't enough!

Freedom of information - Greenpeace Japan is not free to obtain any information that they want. And thank goodness for that.

You feel a 1 year sentence suspended for 3 years "in Japan" is a "punitive strike", blah bla blah bla blah.

Wakey wakey - people who commit crimes get punished.

This is how it works on Planet Earth.

Forget whales and whale meat for second. I'd be surprised in you apply similar thought processes to other issues that don't involve whales. The ends don't justify the means.
 

Anonymous. I'm not Japanese and I may not write very well, but how is that relevant? I made a perfectly good point and if you have nothing better to say it'd be smarter to ignore me. I get a sort of dejavu going through this conversation. Why do a lot of anti-whaling campaigners try to digress momentarily when things start to go against them.
 

Neither of you know very much about the law and, especially, apparently little about Japanese society. I am entitled to criticize my own country and there is much to criticize. A critique of individual elements does not equate to a total "anti" posture.

Falsely, like so many posturizing on the pro-whale slaughter, you paint the world in simplistic, binary terms. When you make a comprehensible point John, in your own language or mine, I will answer you.

David, conscious trespass and non-violent civil disobedience have always been cornerstones of civil reform movements. Boo hoo! Wave the bogeyman of some petty legal decision. No ordinary person is bothered or convinced. We know the game.

I suggest you read up on the civil rights movement in Japan, especially the crack downs of the 60s, a little bit about land rights, the right to assemble and protest etc. You have to understand how much of a fear based society Japan is and how authoritarian it actually is. We are always in the wrong, always in fear of what others might think. The manipulation of that by our elders and would be superiors is part of the game.

Everyone knows about the collusion between government and trade organizations (amakudari) and whose financial benefit is for and everyone knows just how much control the government has over the media. People do not think and question, they cannot afford to. The media exists to tell them what to think and what to conform to and when individuals step out of line with that, the crack down is very hard. Personal annihilation.

What you do not understand, as an unpaid shill posturizing as the tough guy committing some terrible taboo of sucking on an old fisherman's whale, is that the whaling game is just about a few old men in suits getting paid, and the amakudari system behind that being protected.

We are sick of it. We are sick of paying their hidden taxes. We want rid of it and them because they are sucking Japan dry and killing it. They are willing to destroy Japan at home and in the eyes of the world overseas, a world they are largely too ignorant to know or care about, for their money.

It is nothing to do with tradition or culture, even the Japaneseness they propagandize is all bogus.

David, I see your picture. You are exactly as I imagine. Another nerdy whiteman in glass come to our country, I hope to chase our young women because they are far better looking and more feminine than your white girls back at home. Please do. Please enjoy the very best of Japan. You will find a far better looking girl than you could ever imagine picking up back at home. Don't spend your time chewing on old men's meat.

Please don't feed the egos of these old men and please do not defend their corrupt and hurtful system to other white people, leaving us to live under it when your English teacher's contract runs out.

Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and the likes are doing us a very big favor by attacking these individuals, their lies and their corruption. We need 100 such organizations acting in all areas of our society. We need 1,000s of individuals willing to commit civil disobedience in order to bring about change and bring Japan up to standards of civil and human rights equal to other developed nations. We, the people of Japan need to learn from Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd etc how to bring about positive social change successfully.

Do not tell us it is wrong. You know nothing about these people and what they do. You are being duped. Their well rehearsed rhetoric, which you are aping for shock value so well, is all false and killing Japan.
 

Anonymous, thanks for sharing your opinion. I've noted it down here.

I hope you find a way to enjoy your life.
 

By the way, do you not agree it is a little hypocritical that the Japanese establishment would hold, accuse and strongly punish the likes of Peter Bethune and the Greenpeace activists for seeking social justice, when at the same time they would release the Chinese militia man captain after he rammed a SDF ship and attempting to kill SDF members?

Is the rhetoric against Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd not entirely hypocritical, if Japan then bows to China for doing far worse. Sea Shepherd had their ship destroyed by a ramming and Greenpeace Japan only stole some "cardboard"!

But, you see Mr David, these events expose other tendencies within present day Japanese cultures. Firstly, the rule of bullies and the bowing to bullies. Secondly, a tradition of hypocrisy. Lastly, as evidenced by the cover up of the video tapes, intense media control.

Most Japanese know nothing about the dolphin and whaling issues because they depend on the parent-state propaganda channels for their information (NHK etc). From an early age, we are taught what to think, not to question and to conform. We are punished for being different.

You know nothing about the strength of these influences and how they are used, and you do not recognize the poison which you are being fed and are swallowing. It is not the mercury you need to worry about. It is the medicine the spin doctors add.

We don't need foreigners like you in Japan.
 

Anonymous, it's the weekend. Spend some time with your family or friends. Your opinion has already been noted here on my little piece of paper.
 

But you are my new best friend Mr David.

Tell me, what is your opinion of Professor Jun Morikawa's 'Whaling in Japan: power, politics and diplomacy'?

Unfortunately we Japanese cannot read it as no publisher will dare publish it in Japanese.

Perhaps if you can, you will start to understand the bigger picture of what is really going on.

Morikawa has published the polite version of events so as not to damage his career significantly. He has not, for example, gone into the question of political killings and specific career destructions.

You should factor into your understanding that the power of 'outcasting from village' is still strong in Japan whether the village be geographical, political or professional village. I guess you have no idea what it means to be deemed a non-person.

I appreciate that in the America there are many Rambo types who enjoy killing and attacking the eco-loons to defend their right to kill. Gun owning hunter types.

Have you ever killed a living being Mr David? What is the biggest warm blooded being you have ever killed?
 

For starters, the GP issue is entirely domestic. So we're talking apples and oranges.
The Chinese vessel and Bethune are both international incidents. But let's compare...
- Bethune assaulted Japanese citizens, rammed a boat, hid an illegal weapon, destroyed property, etc. and openly claimed to do it all in the name of intimidating Japanese people and government to adopt his political agenda. All of this happened in International waters.
Most importantly, Bethune handed himself over by boarding the vessel.

- The Chinese Captain rammed Japanese Coast guard vessel in disputed waters; and was subsequently detained by JCG.

So, once again, looks like apples and oranges.
Sure, the Chinese Captain probably should have been tried. But what is your complaint? That New Zealand didn't throw enough of a temper tantrum and riot in the streets for a petty criminal?

International Relations seems to be a topic beyond anti-whalers comprehension capabilities.
 

Isn't it all kind of a Joke? Now Bethuane is going to organise a new NGO and never have the Faroe Islanders killed as many pilot whales as this year! This means that most protests are counterproductive and make only people opposed and angry!

PS. And why are the search engines looking up me together with Sea Shepherd????

I'm not dealing with whales anymore , actually there are almost extinct birds to care about...
 

Sorry I haven't had the opportunity to reply sooner, but I guess none of it matters anyway does it. The long waffle on social issues was all very interesting, but in the end it means nothing if the link can't be proven. As it stands the opposition to the judicial outcome might just as well be another conspiracy theory like 9/11 and Priory of Sion. Makes no difference from the neutral perspective.
 

"I think what makes me smile most about your blog is how well you adopted the language of suppressants within Japanese society"
...
"Yes, let us pull out our hammers and bang those nails down."

What I find interesting is that Mr. Anon here, ever scared to show it's proud nail, speaks of how Japanese society tries to make everyone conform to a standard... and then, out of the other side of it's mouth, carries right into stereotyping Japanese to 1 conformity.

It's really quite humorous. And the kind of thing I expect from people who know nothing about Japan except what dishonest NGOs begging for money, like GP or SS, tell them.
 

"We are sick of it. "

Evidently not.
http://blog.nicovideo.jp/niconews/2010/01/006118.html

It's very telling that the strongest pro-whaling generation aren't the ones who grew up eating whale.
It's not the 40s, 50s, or older...
It's people in their 30s. Many of whom did not grow up with whale meat at school.
The highest demographic you can get for pro-whaling is 15% among teenagers. It just goes to show not only that everyone is aware of how morally bankrupt the movement is, but how naive it is.
In 20 years, it will still be people in their 30s who are most in favor of continuing to whale in the face of crazy over-emotional protein-deficient loons.

Can you find me a single party that's against whaling?
Even the Communists are pro-whaling!
http://www.jcp.or.jp/akahata/aik07/2008-01-31/ftp20080131faq12_01_0.html
 

Thanks for those kujirakira, I don't think I had seen them before. I suppose our Anonymous poster (claiming ostensibly to be Japanese) must fall within the 1.3% of poll respondents who could sympathise with Sea Shepherd's side of the argument!
 

To be honest, I don't think "Anon" is Japanese at all.
It's patter and candor are of somebody whose grown up their entire life in our Culture.

It reminds me a lot of another "anonymous" that goes by "head banging" on the Taiji Dolphin Action Group on Facebook.
This profile "headbanging" also claims to be Japanese and throws around one or two words, such as Amakudari, and a lot of rhetoric.

What inevitable gives these guys away, for me at least, is the overt and blatant stereotyping of Japanese.

Somebody who is Japanese wouldn't do such a thing, they would understand nuances and be able to communicate them.
All the rhetoric about "ignorant" Japanese being kept in the dark by "media blackouts" and "scared to stand up for themselves" are dead giveaways.
The nail metaphor itself is a dead giveaway. Truth is, I've never heard it in Japan -- it's more prevalent by people outside Japan stereotyping them.
Interesting blog on that by the way.
http://www.racialicious.com/2009/07/20/quoted-holly-on-interpretation-of-culture/

In the past, a vehemently pro-SS group on Facebook ("Fuck off Japan") has also made fake profiles appearing to be Japanese and then used them confirm all their worst predictions about Japanese.
One of the angles they've really been pushing is that the only people who for whaling are far-right nationalists, like that Shukenkaifuku group.

Take "Ken Oda" here for example.
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/4100/fojcreateodaken.jpg
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/1934/fojcreateodaken2.jpg
http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/8300/fojcreateodaken3.jpg
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/6270/fojcreateodakenlinks1.jpg
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/4430/fojcreateodakenlinks2.jpg

Because none of the anti-whalers speak Japanese (this is not an over-exaggeration...) they didn't realize what the writing on the bottom of the profile picture meant.
It was easy to track down the fake as Tsumabuki Satoshi(aka Naoe Kanetsugu in Tenchijin)
http://www.mesotw.com/bbs/viewthread.php?action=printable&tid=4670

But what's more interesting at the things they wanted to portray their fake Japanese person as.
Look at all the pages they had it join -- all stuff far-right nationalists would do.

This is also mirrored by recent SS press releases about how Japanese are oppressed and scared to stand up for themselves.
http://www.seashepherd.org/dolphins/report-from-taiji-december-10.html
http://www.seashepherd.org/dolphins/report-from-taiji-december-17.html

Now these are all SS-related examples, but it's also happened in the creation of anti-whaling groups which claim to be "Japanese" in origin.
Such as Taiji Dolphin Action Group -- only has 1 Japanese member that I know of, the wife of the English Teacher who started the group. (And who also moonlights as the aforementioned "Head Banging" -- really he, Anon here, and Debito should all get together and rail about what they hate...)
 

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 

This is also mirrored by recent SS press releases about how Japanese are oppressed and scared to stand up for themselves.
http://www.seashepherd.org/dolphins/report-from-taiji-december-10.html
http://www.seashepherd.org/dolphins/report-from-taiji-december-17.html

Now these are all SS-related examples, but it's also happened in the creation of anti-whaling groups which claim to be "Japanese" in origin.
Such as Taiji Dolphin Action Group -- only has 1 Japanese member that I know of, the wife of the English Teacher who started the group. (And who also moonlights as the aforementioned "Head Banging" -- really he, Anon here, and Debito should all get together and rail about what they hate...)

There's been multiple websites as well. There was one which was particularly well done with flash and videos, no doubt professionally. It purported to be a group of just founded Japanese anti-whalers... but when I looked at the background, the website was registered in NY and owned by an American in California.

What's happening here is that the blatant and overt racism and bigotry they've aimed at Japan is taking it's toll.
Anti-whaling has always has little to do with cetaceans and more to do with disaffected misanthropes getting their hate on.

Most people don't want anything to do with such bigots -- the same as Shukenkaifuku are shunned. Japanese don't start arguments in the middle of the street, they avoid and shun. They walk to the other side of the street to avoid being anywhere near people they see as radicals.
This is why the yakuza has been somewhat successful by posing as ultra-nationalists with loud speakers to put pressure on businesses and extort money.

But they can't admit that their tactics of confrontation, "shaming", and being generally bigoted and ignorant towards an entire Nation for eating something they find cute ... is wrong.
As a result, these anti-whalers are forced into a position where they have to manufacture support from within Japan.
As even that fails to take hold, they resort to making lies about "media blackouts" and how Japanese don't know what's going on in their own country.
Or how Japanese are oppressed by their own government.

And yet, in the end, all it points out is how ignorant of Japan they are.

With our "Anonymous" here, all of these symptoms are evident.
It's just a big snowjob.
 

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 

Sorry for the multiple posts.
>.>

The blog kept coming back with "URI Error" and claiming they didn't post.
 

Interesting findings, although thoroughly unsurprising :)

I did some gardening on the posts to remove the duplicated stuff, no problem.

It reminds me about the anti-whaling leadership here in Japan. Basically we've got convicted thief, Junichi Sato heading Greenpeace Japan now "as a Japanese" trying to change the place to make it more "western". See his team wheeling out the "human rights" lawyer at his trial for theft and trespass charges. I read somewhere recently that he originally studied at a western university. Congrats to him for this, but that he spent some formative years overseas and outside Japan kind of helps to explain how his brain may have infected with the wacko anti-whaling thinking in the first place. I see this with other Japanese anti-whalers as well - almost inevitably they have some excellent English abilities. I guess they might say "oh well without English one could never learn the truth..." blah blah blah. The truth I think is that the anti-whaling propaganda doesn't translate well in to Japanese :)

Sea Shepherd's recent PR stunt of adding more Japanese "who are prepared to reveal their faces" is terribly cynical stuff. The two in question are apparently non-resident in Japan, having foreign spouses if I recall, but their selection for SS's campaign appears to be motivated by Watson's desire to have more token Japanese on board to try, so that he can deny to media that his campaign is anti-Japanese. The fools themselves can't see that they are being used in this way (or maybe they do but just don't care, which is also possible).

As an aside, the middle-aged lady pictured in her Sea Shepherd outfit actually looked just like a South Park character, which did give me a chuckle. She could be depicted in a follow up episode to Whale Whores and she wouldn't need a caricature.
 

Kujirakura wrote something along the line that the animal rights/ enviros people are misanthrops that must direct their hatred on something...here on cetaceans!

I can tell you that I have challenged the leading AR/ Enviro movement in Sweden for their lies and exaggerations.

Now they want to ban my writings everywhere. It doesn't matter that is " pure green stuff".

I have written on an enviro forum:
1) Stop Wolf slaughter
2) Stop cutting of forest in nesting time
3) Protest against the pipeline in the Baltic Sea
4) Stop the Geese slaughter

Now the AR people want that the forum delets my posts because they hate me!

Things are so bad in the movement that I have cancelled all my memeberships in every NGO, except the international Birdforum( btw my pics are among the most popular on this the world's largest wildlife community, check out).
Now the AR and Enviros have showed their right face , they are only after money and power, don't give a shit about animals and the environment and they only lie for getting power, most of the people are also extremely uneducated, frankly they are not worth all the time spent on them...heard that the compromise solution was OK for the Japanese to kill 200 whales, but NO said the antis.

My new line is to abandon all NGO such as they work today....I don't support any...I was sorry for the Russian enviros that got brutally injured by thugs, but after 10 years of enviro work...environmentalism and AR movements lost my symphaty...
What I'll say that you don't protect the animals and the Nature through supporting nowaday NGOs
 

We live in a world where information does get a bit of a nudge this way and that, so that goes without saying. Still, isn't it weird that the likes of SS criticize how information is manipulated (Japan or wherever), yet they themselves manipulate it in the first place, and from what I see they do so deliberately as well i.e. they seem to know full well they're doing it. You would've thought with their guiding sentiments they would totally be against social engineering which they sometimes portray as their enemy, but on the flip side I feel that some groups like SS are worse than a government or other power structures in this regard. GP as well, they are no better in some areas of their movement which I'm aware of.

Some things just don't add up for me. I used to think and still want to believe, rightly or wrongly, that this type of activism rose out of genuine kindness such as thoughtfulness and good spirit (and yes I do respect & believe in them), but often what they actually do in their movement looks the exact opposite. Talking to campaginers on streets has become something of a personal quest for me, to get a better idea of their rationale and to find out whether they are aware of the irony if there is one. I've not yet made up my mind, but it's a mixed bag right now.

The problem for me is that for decades I tried my best to be green and support many groups who try to be good to the environment. Obviously such ideas at my layman's level is as elementary as everybody elses's (like putting cans in a recycle bin or making donations), but these days I'm really confused as to where all this is going. Antiwhaling too, without this place I wouldn't have known what was happening behind the scene. In all honesty I get disillusioned by all the good-will movements when my faith in them has been overturned so many times consistently. I know such a stereotype is no good, but having gone through all this myself, sometimes I have to resist hard to overcome them.
 

@John
This is a video that I've recently helped (very little really) to translate into Japanese.

I'm very much against groups like SS, regardless of whaling.
So it should beg the question why it is I would be copying their own videos for distribution in Japan.
Well, if you watch the video, you might see why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUcfAyTTFd0
 

Hi latest Anonymous,

Good job translating the video fo the Sea Shithead's harrasment of people in Taiji.

They are pretty stupid blubbering their proppaganda repeatedly in English to the Japanese locals. Either that or they know who their real audience is.

I wonder why they haven't been arrested yet for taking pictures of people without their permission? No one bothered to lay such a complaint with police perhaps.
 

David,
Just wondering whether the FAJ's recent admission of wrongdoing by its officials (taking home whale meat as alleged by GP) has altered your perspective on the matter? Or are you of the view that the FAJ has become brainwashed by GP propaganda?
Admittedly they've only admitted to a small part of the GP allegations, but it took them the better part of three years.=
 

DS, you can check my other reply here:
http://david-in-tokyo.blogspot.com/2010/09/greenpeace-activists-judgement-tomorrow.html

From the reports I have seen, it appears that the public workers accepted gifts for free from the whaling company (as opposed to "taking home whale meat as alleged by GP"). Greenpeace's whale meat "theft" allegations remain as they were.

My perspective is little changed. GP screwed themselves over through their arrogance in believing themselves above the law, and in any case their idea of producing a "scandal" was never going to result in their ultimate goal of ending whaling. Only their warped logic could have them believe so.

But it is amusing that GP seemed to get some satisfaction out of the fact that some public workers were confirmed to have breached their ethics code. All the funding provided to Greenpeace Japan staff over these past few years has surely be worth it...
 

"they've only admitted to a small part of the GP allegations"

Can you quote and source the exact part of GP's allegations that they've admitted to?
GP trespassed and stole whale meat from workers which they claim proves there is a black market.
Next will they break into an American walmart and expose that the employees are getting 10% discounts -- which is, by itself, supposed to be proof of a mythical black market?

On the other hand, I can't recall a single "allegation" about inspectors getting whale meat along with the crew.
Here's the distinction if you haven't figured it out... there's nothing unusual or odd about crew getting benefits. That's all part of the job and was widely known beforehand.
There is something wrong when the inspectors get those same benefits.
To my knowledge, GP never went after the issue of inspectors. If they did, it would only be in a blanket-statement. Their actions were aimed solely at employees.

Last I checked there was no mention of this whole thing on GP Japan -- in English or Japanese.
The stories attempting to relate two unconnected incidents are entirely in the realm of "foreign correspondents" (translation: hacks who couldn't get a job in their own country) and reprints of GP propaganda being peddled on other sites outside of Japan.
Now one has to wonder why all this hubbub about Sato being vindicated on GP International doesn't even appear on their Japan site -- where Sato is the new kingpin.

Here's a hint: It's a lot harder to deceive people who read the original stories in their native languages.
It's very easy to deceive by preaching to the choir, one which is notorious for not checking facts, about a story in a foreign country whose language they don't speak and have no interest in learning.
 

Hi David!

No posts since September? I only just discovered your blog today because your name was mentioned in an *ahem* article from the Sydney Morning Herald (http://bit.ly/ha0AmH).

I have been enjoying your posts very much! Thank you for your hard work. Since my Japanese language skills are still a bit too weak for me to be able to read newspapers, I appreciate being able to read your blog.

お疲れ様でした。

wormgear
 

Hi Chris,

Yes it is kind of "hard work", and once I post something (especially about their beloved cherished Greenpeace), all the nut cases come out of the woodwork and post crap which then takes more time to reply if I can be bothered. These days I have other various other things that tend to take priority (Going to run two marathons this winter).

I do keep up with the day to day whale news on twitter though (my id is davidattokyo if you want to follow).
 

お久しぶりです。