David @ Tokyo

I'm safe, prayers for others on the Pacific Rim

2011-03-11T17:59:00.002+09:00

I am actually in New Zealand right now, due to an emergency (not the Christchurch earthquake, fortunately. Not in Japan now as a result, at least for the time being.Today's earthquake and tsunamis are tragic not only for Japan but likely also for other nations of the Pacific yet to be hit by the waves...This is a terrible day.Let's be thankful that of course we are safe but also think of those

Comments

2011-02-23T21:14:00.004+09:00

Comments are still there, but are turned off temporarily. I would turn off just new comments if I could, but it seems Blogger don't make this possible, so they are all hidden.They will be re-enabled (and re-appear) next week or whenever it is my thoughts turn here.UPDATE 2011/2/28/: Comments are now back on again.

Greenpeace guilty as charged

2010-09-06T22:09:00.003+09:00

Two Greenpeace activists were today convicted as charged for trespass and theft. The judge was extremely lenient on them giving them a 1 year sentence suspended for 3 years.Also as I predicted here yesterday, the convicted criminals have indicated that they plan to appeal the decision, wasting yet more tax payer resources for their propaganda purposes. Alas the justice system was not designed

Greenpeace activists judgement tomorrow

2010-09-05T11:56:00.008+09:00

Finally after 2 years of Greenpeace Japan wasting the time and resources of Japanese authorities and taxpayers (not to mention their own dubiously obtained funding), tomorrow two activists will be judged for trespassing on the property of the Seino transportation company and taking off with a cardboard box shipped by a Nisshin Maru crew member, which contained whale meat.To recap, back in May of

... And this supermarket too

2010-08-29T18:20:00.005+09:00

In my usual supermarket today and surprised because whereas I thought they didn't sell any whale products I found out that I was wrong:My, we are well stocked this summer aren't we?UPDATE 2010/09/04: And I was at the supermarket the other night again and saw that they have whale bacon too. How did I ever miss it?

Supermarket shelves restocked

2010-08-29T09:41:00.008+09:00

A few months ago when I peeked in a near-by supermarket I found the shelves were almost bare of canned whale products. What was the situation I wondered?Were the products so popular they were selling out quickly? (Well whale is tasty, but it's no "miracle" product - just a type of meat - albeit much better than that nasty cow meat from Australia)Or were the products unpopular so they weren't

ICJ: Australia v. Japan Part 3

2010-08-23T22:49:00.005+09:00

Returning again to my series on Australia's ICJ application, this is Part 3. Parts 1 and 2 here and here.I got up to point 17 last time, and so it's there that I continue on. From this point Australia describes what it says is the "Refusal of Japan to accept recommendations of the IWC"...The legal value of this entire section escapes me (admittedly I am a legal layman). What Australia means by "

Seiji Ohsumi on Antarctic whale research

2010-08-15T22:40:00.003+09:00

Seiji Ohsumi writes (in Japanese) that it has been proven that Antarctic whale research based on non-lethal sampling methods alone can not be successful.I like this article quite a lot and hopefully will get around to translating some of the more interesting points into English sometime... after I complete my run down of the Australia ICJ court case application.UPDATE: Check the comments below,

ICJ: Australia v. Japan Part 2

2010-08-08T00:43:00.002+09:00

Continuing on from where I left off last time, at point 9 in Australia's document instituting "proceedings against Japan for alleged breach of international obligations concerning whaling"...* * *9. From this section through to point 16, Australia describes the "Conduct of Japan".In point 9 Australia says that "Following the introduction of the moratorium, Japan ostensibly ceased whaling for

Japanese group cheers All Blacks to victory over Aussies

2010-08-07T22:18:00.003+09:00

Gamushara Oendan in Christchurch prior to the Bledisole Cup match. Story here.The All Blacks won again, defeating Australia's Wallabies 20-10.

ICJ: Australia v. Japan Part 1

2010-07-24T21:52:00.011+09:00

*** Note --- this post was drafted back in July, but I've only uploaded it as of August 5 ***As I remarked prior to the recent IWC meeting, I consider the IWC meetings to be a waste of time. This has been the case for years, but through the blatantly paralyzed nature of the latest meeting, IWC 62, number of people sharing this view has likely increased further.Perhaps the focus will now shift

IWC 62 comes and goes

2010-06-28T21:03:00.003+09:00

IWC 62 has come and gone, and as I think most expected, the IWC was unable to come to any agreements on really controversial issues, although the Greenlanders successfully managed to get permission to strike 9 humpbacks a year for the next three.IWC 62 documents are here, now including several uploaded during the course of the meeting. The following are some of interest62/28 Statement by H.E.

IWC Annual plenary to start tomorrow

2010-06-20T15:32:00.003+09:00

As per par, all sorts of talk in the media recently in the lead up to this week's IWC meeting in Morocco.The IWC chair and vice chair have put together a proposal that they hope would see the IWC able to remain on life support for another 10 years while more time is taken to talk through (and hopefully resolve) the dispute between the members of the International Whaling Commission that agree

Japan Probe with Watson arrest warrant video

2010-05-09T11:47:00.003+09:00

The good people over at Japan Probe have a post featuring Paul Watson's reaction to the arrest warrant for him being obtained by Japanese authorities."My job is to obstruct Japanese whaling operations", Watson says, "that's what we do".I saw this on TV at the time, and I was surprised that Watson would regard what he does as a "job".

Minke whale tonight

2010-05-08T20:52:00.010+09:00

I went to another local restaurant for dinner this evening, and ordered a standard "Katsudon" bowl meal, basically fried pork cutlets and egg on top of rice.The restaurant staffers, a friendly elderly couple, know that some of the other regulars in the area and myself enjoy a whale fest together from time to time, and very once in a while they serve whale sashimi on their own menu themselves. I

Whale and tuna inventory levels

2010-05-06T20:06:00.004+09:00

I've had a couple of comments from an anonymous poster (here and here) claiming that (quote) "no one" wants to eat minke whale meat, with consumption having (quote) "gone through the floor".I had just posted pictures of the minke whale dishes that we'd eaten at a local restaurant in the very post that one of these Anonymous comments came to, so the comments struck me as being quite bemusing. The

Whale still on the menu

2010-05-01T22:21:00.013+09:00

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that a local drinkery was advertising whale on it's menu, with a topical comment related to Sea Shepherd putting thoughts of whale dishes in Japanese consumers' minds.I popped past again this evening to see if they were still doing whale - and they are:The signboard has been modified since, and this time the whale in the image on the right (sorry you can't see

Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution also clears whalers

2010-04-25T19:10:00.003+09:00

Breaking news - multiple Japanese news sources (Jiji, Yomiuri for example) report that a Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution issued a decision dated April 22 that states that the non-prosecution of whaling ship crew members, who took whale meat home with them, was appropriate.Self-proclaimed environmental NGO, Greenpeace Japan, had accused whaling crew members of "embezzling" some of the

New Zealand foreign minister on latest IWC proposal

2010-04-23T22:56:00.006+09:00

The IWC circus rolls on - at least for the time being. This isn't the first time one has got the sense that things are looking sad for this organization, however.Yesterday the latest IWC compromise proposal draft was released (get it here).New Zealand's government had been showing an uncharacteristically flexible mindset towards the talks, with its IWC commissioner Sir Geoff Palmer backing a

Magonotei opens in Akasaka

2010-04-18T21:02:00.019+09:00

A new restaurant in Tokyo's downtown Akasaka district that opened late last year serving whale gained some attention in local media in February, when it fully kicked into business.Here's an article (in Japanese) from the Akasaka Keizai Newspaper. Magonotei is apparently run by the same operator as the Akanedoki restaurant in Shinjuku, which opened 3 years ago.After Magonotei opened, they started

Last supper at Yushin

2010-04-18T20:46:00.003+09:00

Yushin, the antenna shop for Kyodo Senpaku, closed down earlier this year as previously announced.It looks like the last meal I had there was a fried whale donburi set meal.I miss Yushin's steak recipe. That was fantastic.

Return to Taruichi

2010-04-18T20:33:00.011+09:00

These are from an outing around five months ago, but here's some more pics from an outing to Taruichi in Shinjuku.I don't remember exactly what each dish was now, but let's see what I can recall. I think this first one was whale heart:This next one looks to be some kind of whale bacon.This was probably some of the really good stuff - onomi from the tail perhaps.A whale / rice dish:Whale sushi:And

Rum from Haiti

2010-04-18T19:43:00.005+09:00

Incidentally, I'm a rum lover, and recently while browsing the well-stocked Rum section of a convenient Seijo Ishii looking for something new to try, I spotted an option from earthquake-stricken Haiti.I had already donated to a Haiti earthquake relief fund, but I think everyone would like to be able to channel funds to Haiti through purchases of their products, namely this fine bottle of rum

Local restaurant sign board - whale on the menu

2010-04-17T18:22:00.004+09:00

I already had other plans for dinner tonight, so I won't be eating at this local restaurant that I stumbled across in my local neighbourhood this evening, but the signboard really caught my eye.The restaurant's main menu (out of sight in this photo) was also on display, but what really grabbed me was the huge "KUJIRA" writing on the signboard, pictured.The text says something which would

Tokyo Marathon 2010 finished

2010-02-28T17:12:00.002+09:00

Point Split Lap Time 5km 00:35:41 09:45:41 10km 01:03:22 0:27:41 10:13:22 15km 01:31:09 0:27:47 10:41:09 20km 01:59:08 0:27:59 11:09:08 25km 02:25:48 0:26:40 11:35:48 30km 02:54:15 0:28:27 12:04:15 35km 03:27:50 0:33:35 12:37:50 40km 03:58:48 0:30:58 13:08:48

Pre-IWC salvos

2010-02-27T21:15:00.003+09:00

Australia has been saying in recent times that it isn't prepared to "write out a blank cheque" with regards to (ostensible) negotiations that have been going on at the IWC.This is a strange thing to say, since for almost as long as I've been alive it's the nations in favour of sustainable use that are unhappy, and have been threatening to leave the IWC or look at other options if nothing

A new post about whales

2010-02-27T09:31:00.003+09:00

The big Tokyo Marathon day is tomorrow... 42.195kms.Just had a quick read of the news.Saw an article talking about Northern Right Whales."Only 450 remain", it says.I've seen this sort of thing many times, over the years, but is "remain" an appropriate word to use?Whales are born into the world, grow up, reproduce themselves, and die.Most if not all of the Northern Right Whales that are alive

Tokyo Marathon 2010 update

2010-01-06T19:39:00.004+09:00

Just a quick update... back from New Year's holiday. (Happy New Year!)Ran something like 27-30 kms a couple of weekends back, and a total of about 70 kms in one week.This weekend aiming for 29 kms, 32 kms a fortnight later, and 35 kms another fortnight after that.Totalling around 60 - 70 kms each week, time permitting.And 42.125 kms on February 28.So this leaves not much time for other stuff.

Tokyo Marathon 2010

2009-11-28T13:45:00.003+09:00

Found out this week that I won the raffle to run in the 2010 Tokyo Marathon.This is going to keep me busy until March!

South Park mocks Paul Watson

2009-10-30T22:46:00.004+09:00

South Park always was my favourite TV show...I've never seen an episode of Whale Wars but South Park's makers have made Paul Watson's reality TV show the butt of the joke in episode 11 of South Park's 13th season. You can watch the episode online here at South Park Studios.Warning: if you aren't familiar with South Park and are easily offended, best not to watch! Paul Watson fans also will not be

Iceland economy and whaling

2009-10-26T21:44:00.000+09:00

Iceland's is an interesting situation, with the majority of Iceland's populace supporting whaling, whereas their new government seems to be of the "anti-trade" persuasion (at least with respect to whale products), yet not exactly "anti-whaling" per se.Nonetheless, as this Bloomberg article indicates (without getting into any of the typical western culture cringe) whaling is providing some jobs

Whale meat inventory update - August 2009

2009-10-26T21:24:00.001+09:00

Another delay on my part, but once again here's your monthly (August 2009) update for whale meat inventory statistics from Japan's Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries.As I alluded to last time, I was unable to put these up sooner as I took a jaunt down to the Philippines. It was smashing - did some snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming, plus enjoyed some local cuisine. Best mangoes I've

Whale meat inventory update - July 2009

2009-10-03T17:57:00.009+09:00

Hi everyone, here's your July update on Japanese whale meat inventory statistics, data as usual pulled from the homepage of the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries.These stats came out last month actually, and indeed the August stats are due for release next Friday (October 9th) but I'm not likely to be able to publish those here until some time after that (will be enjoying a long

Fresh whale products in Kushiro

2009-09-13T11:46:00.002+09:00

The Hokkaido Shimbun online newspaper has an article about special permit whale meat by-products lining the shops in Kushiro, with prices pretty much in line with those from last year.Fresh meat from the minke whales caught under special permit in the waters off Kushiro is the source. The first whale was caught and landed on the 6th of September, and after biological samples such as stomach

Iceland fin whale catches

2009-09-05T11:55:00.006+09:00

Sounds like the whaling in Iceland is going well.We can tell, because WDCS is "outraged" and making assertions about the economics of the situation, as is prominent Icelandic anti-whaling voice Arni Finnsson, who also claims "damage to Iceland’s international reputation is huge" (by some undescribed measure).Assuming the reports about the catches are accurate, this will amount to a significant

Democratic Party of Japan's whaling policy

2009-08-27T22:54:00.003+09:00

Those of you who follow the shambles that is Japanese politics will be aware that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is looking likely to take power in this weekend's national elections here. The incumbent Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in office for decades, and looks to be on the way out.So, will there be any change in whaling policy?The DPJ's whaling policy from their election

Whale meat inventory update - June 2009

2009-08-14T20:22:00.009+09:00

Hi all,Well just after my previous update for the May inventory statistics, I loaded up some prehistoric email software on my 7 year old Fujitsu laptop (upon which the anti-virus software expired 6 years ago) and I suspect I downloaded a virus infected email, as the poor thing would no longer boot up, afterwards. I reckon it's fixable (just need time and the right gears), but I needed a working

Whale meat inventory update - May 2009

2009-07-11T01:08:00.004+09:00

The May inventory stats were released yesterday, from the usual source at the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries.Through the first 4 months of 2009, outgoing inventory volumes were the lowest they have been in some years. Although inventory was at relatively low levels, things were looking distinctively sluggish with just 1287 tons recorded leaving storage facilities up until the end

Only half of Americans against whaling?

2009-06-22T23:14:00.003+09:00

Poll result:Animal Planet today released the results of a national Online Zogby Interactive poll of 3,412 Americans ... ... Slightly more than half (53%) said it is not ethically or morally right to kill whales, with 20% disagreeing and 27% unsure.Interesting. I would have thought that the numbers would be more heavily against whaling (by default), however generally speaking I believe that most

First Iceland fin whale catches in 2009

2009-06-22T23:07:00.005+09:00

Interesting story from IcelandReview: Representatives of Japanese companies who plan to import the Icelandic fin whale meat were present during the processing; carrying their own knives to taste the meat and to grade the different cuts. “They were always with us in the old days and will probably stay for the summer,” Loftsson said. Commercial anti-whaling industry groups have been constantly

Whale meat inventory update - April 2009

2009-06-21T09:41:00.007+09:00

Here's the April inventory statistics update from the usual source.Not much time again at the moment, will maybe add more commentary later.April 2009 outgoing stock: 369 tonsApril 2009 incoming stock: 767 tonsApril 2009 end-of-month inventories: 4,800 tonsApril 2009 top inventory regionsRegionStockpile size at month endStockpile size atprevious month endMovementTokyo city wards3,0232,912+

By-caught minke goes for 5 million

2009-06-05T22:11:00.004+09:00

A local Japanese newspaper has a report of another by-caught minke whale.My summary translation is below.On the 2nd of June, a minke whale exceeding 7 metres in length, which had been caught in a fixed fishing net, was landed at the Kesennuma city fish market. People gathered around the whale that was laid across a pier to touch and take photographs with it.The 7.35 metre bull whale weighing 4.7

Noge "Whale Row" in Asahi news

2009-05-31T18:15:00.004+09:00

Tena koutou again,Isanatori let me know about this article here in the Asahi's Kanagawa edition, covering latest developments with regard to this project. (I wrote a bit about it before here.)Visit the original page to check out the picture of the juicy whale cutlets, but here's a summary of the story:- A group of shops situated in the Noge area in Yokohama city is working on a project to promote

Foreign students eat whole whale

2009-05-31T11:49:00.003+09:00

Four students from abroad were in Japan recently, according to this Mainichi article.Apparently they are studying at a Copenhagen business university, and in Japan were focusing on whale consumption here.A 25-year old German student joked:"I had never eaten whale back in Germany, but the 4 of us have eaten as much as a whole whale while we've been in Japan"That's the spirit :)

Whale meat inventory update - March 2009

2009-05-31T11:30:00.000+09:00

*** UPDATED 2009/05/31*** Tena koe everyone, again struggling to make time at the moment but here's a brief update for the March figures that were released last Friday.March was again not a good month if you are looking for big decreases in existing inventory, but if you are an anti-whaling propaganda merchant then it's time to put your hat on and go to town as the inventory volumes will be

IWC 61 Scientific Committee docs

2009-05-13T20:47:00.002+09:00

For those interested in the IWC Scientific Committee advice for IWC 61 (which is much more interesting than the IWC meeting itself), you can find docs here:http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/sci_com/SC61docs/sc61docs.htmNote that the page is being updated every couple of days, so it's worth checking back frequently if you are into this stuff.Drop a comment if you see anything there of interest.

Whale meat inventory update - February 2009

2009-04-18T12:32:00.011+09:00

Took some time to get to this, but here's your February whale meat inventory update, based on the recent February release of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' "Statistics on Distribution of Frozen Fishery Products".February 2009 outgoing stock: 249 tonsAnother measly month on the outgoing stock front, just 249 tons leaving storage. We have to go back to 2004 or thereabouts to

Whale meat inventory update - January 2009

2009-03-15T18:37:00.004+09:00

Here's your update on whale meat inventories with the latest figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for January 2009.Just the basics for starters, and I'll try to catch up with graphs later when time presents itself, but there isn't much to illustrate with only figures for the first month of the year anyway.January 2009 outgoing stock: 391 tonsAnother slow month in the

2009-03-01T21:12:00.003+09:00

More news from Japan, this time from Yokohama, in Kanagawa prefecture just south of Tokyo. This story again from Tokyo Shimbun.Bring back vigor to "Whale Row"Restaurants in Noge district, Yokohama city aim to create a speciality with new menu developmentThis is how the headline from the article dated 2009/02/05 reads.In Noge district of Yokohama city's Naka ward, there is an area lined with

USA on Iceland's increased whaling quotas

2009-03-01T18:21:00.005+09:00

I haven't been keeping up with posts regarding movements in Iceland as much as I would like, but suffice it to say that this year it's been decided that Iceland's whalers will be able to catch up to 150 fin whales and 100 minke whales.Most of this is expected to be exported, to Japan.But the USA is not happy about it.U.S. Opposes Iceland's Decision To Establish Large Commercial Whaling Quota