Participants at the 2024 Whale Forum in Taiji, Japan eat whale meat from a buffet table. (©Jay Alabaster)
Japan's whalers have abandoned their pursuit of international acceptance and turned inward, building ships to ply domestic waters, harpooning larger species, and luring new diners with prime cuts of whale meat.
The country restarted commercial whaling in 2019 for the first time in 30 years. But the initial hunts were hastily organized and based on decades of government-backed research whaling. Such hunts were not designed to generate profit.
In the years since, however, Japanese whalers are becoming increasingly business-minded.
At a "Whale Forum" event that took place in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture last week, the new thrust was clear. They event drew whalers, brokers, scholars, politicians, and even whale chefs from across the country. They gathered at the two-day event to discuss and debate the way forward. Unlike similar events in years past, there was little talk of gaining foreign approval.
"Our battle is no longer for global understanding, but rather to spread whale food culture within Japan," Naoya Tanikawa, the head of the Japan Whaling Association, told the assembly.
Bigger Whales
Much of the discussion at the event focused on the what types of whales are allowed under government quotas. Earlier this year, the Fisheries Agency announced a new quota for 59 fin whales. The second-largest whale species after blue whales, fin whales can grow to 25 meters long. This was the first time Japanese whalers had pursued the massive animals commercially in half a century.
The government has also provisionally allowed Japan's fleet of five smaller whaling ships to hunt Bryde's whales this year. Officials were unsure if the smaller boats could safely catch the 15-meter cetaceans. Representatives at the forum reported that four such animals were caught during this year’s hunting season without issue. But the whales were so large they wouldn't fit inside of local flensing stations, which may need to be expanded.
The new quotas permit Japan's two whaling fleets to capture much larger animals than in previous years. This allows the whaling industry to sell more valuable cuts of meat. These include "onomi," premium red meat from the tail that can be served raw as sashimi.
Whale was once a staple food in Japan. Annual consumption occasionally reaching over 200,000 tons per year in the 1960s and 1970s. Currently, whale dishes have become more of a delicacy in the country. Whale is now eaten mainly at "izakaya" pubs and sushi restaurants. Annual consumption hovers around 2,000 tons, on par with abalone or wild game.
"Onomi" Whale Sashimi
The evening of the forum event in Taiji, guests assembled for a buffet dinner. Tables were laden with premium whale sashimi from large species such as fin whales, Bryde's whales, and sei whales. Other dishes included dishes such as whale bacon, whale soup, and fried whale. The event was featured in news reports across Japan.
In recent months, whale vendors have held tasting events at various locations across the country. The goal is to allow buyers to sample offerings from the newly expanded catches. Previous events featuring fin whale sashimi held at fish markets in Hokkaido and Tokyo also drew national media coverage.
One particular focus of the whale industry is increasing the amount of whale meat served to children, often through school lunch programs that periodically feature traditional Japanese meals. A town-backed vendor in Taiji ships frozen whale meat to elementary schools across the country for use in dishes such as "tatsuta-age" fried whale cutlets.
"If people don't eat whale when they are children, then they won't eat it when they are adults," Yoshifumi Kai, the head of the Japan Small-Type Whaling Association, told participants at the forum.
During a question-and-answer session, attendees asked where they could purchase meat from the newly approved animals and requested details about local a recipe for whale hamburgers.
New Ships
The shift toward profitability and efficiency, along with the opportunity to chase larger prey, has also led whalers to consider updating their aging vessels. Japan's commercial whaling is allowed only in its territorial waters or its broader Exclusive Economic Zone, where it has exclusive rights to marine resources.
Whaling takes place under two sets of quotas: one for Japan's deepwater factory fleet, which can stay out at sea for months, processing whales as it catches them, and one for its five "small-type" ships, manned by small crews that harpoon whales and bring them into shore for processing.
The Kangei Maru, a newly built massive 9300-ton factory ship, set sail in June, the first such ship to be built in 73 years. Separately at the Taiji event, local officials said they are mulling replacing the town's resident whaler, the 32-ton Katsu Maru, with a larger ship.
The End of the Whaling Commission?
The commercial hunts began after Japan exited the International Whaling Commission. The commission, with dozens of member countries from around the world, was originally formed in 1946 to enable "the orderly development of the whaling industry."
The global economic shift away from whale oil, the growing environmental movement, and an international tendency to revere whales changed the priorities of the commission. Its members voted to enforce a global blanket ban on commercial whaling, saving some species from extinction but blocking all attempts to allow any others to be hunted.
Increasingly isolated and exasperated with a lack of progress toward allowing whaling even under strict quotas, Japan exited the International Whaling Commission in 2019. While Tokyo still submits data and attends meetings as an observer, it is no longer a signatory to the group's agreements or prohibitions.
In August, a group of whaling researchers published a public comment in the academic journal Nature. They argued that the body should be dismantled as it no longer serves as an assembly for meaningful discussion.
"The IWC should celebrate its accomplishments, devolve its final responsibilities and send a powerful message about the importance of knowing when to stop," they wrote. "Today, the biggest threats to whales are ship strikes, pollution and climate change."
The Whale Forum is a national event held since 2007. The Taiji forum was the first to be held since 2021 because of cancellations due to the coronavirus.
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Author: Jay Alabaster
