In practice the IWC has already abandoned the management of whale resources and whaling, and the Western worldview caused this situation.
Not the whaling moratorium, but the defense and promotion of the general principle of sustainable use is the important policy issue for many countries.
In 2018 the IWC officially shifted the organization’s purpose from whaling management to whale conservation over dozens of objections – and Japan withdrew.
Dr Kato naturally hoped that the IWC would act based on the scientific results of the research. But whales had become a totem of the environmental...
“It makes me really happy when someone tries whale for the first time and says ‘this is really good!” ーRajiku chef Takatoyo Itahana.
Abe’s legacy included overseeing a dramatic shift in Japan’s whaling policy, from the decision to withdraw from the IWC to the restart of commercial whaling.
“We give thanks that we were able to make the catch without incident. We can’t forget our gratitude for the gift of another life” ー Taiji...
Japanese whalers of the Edo period made huge fortunes from an ocean resource that belonged to no one. Other groups stole some meat but weren’t punished.
Practiced in Japan as far back as 4000 BC, and humans are still chasing whales 6,000 years later, largely for a spiritual reward not measured by...
The whaling economy was preceded by a battle to overcome a giant creature which, more than profits and losses, required a spiritual vitality.
Whales were resources that swam slowly through the sea. Once brought up onto land, their massive bodies were divided and used until there was nothing left.
Artwork made from the baleen of whales has been an integral part of the culture of whaling communities in Japan and around the world, and some...
