Aussie Anti-Whaling Commercial: Harpooning Japanese People

Here’s a bizarre commercial for “whale safe” beer [beer produced by 100% Australian owned companies]:

The site appears to be tied to the radical anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd, which advocates the ramming of Japanese whaling vessels and has been accused of eco-terrorism by its critics.

17 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - September 2, 2007 at 9:32 pm

Categories: Anti-Japan Tags:

TofuUnion

Why do they accuse whaling as eco-terrorism ? Whales eat more fish than humans(It’s true). Ecologically moderate whaling isn’t harmful to the entire sea ecosystem.

Whether you find whales as your friends or not, is another thing.

Klauscore

well, unfortunately, there is no “ecologically moderate whaling” these days, and Japanese whalers are targeting the endangered fin-whale and threatened sub-populations of other whale species, as well as pregnant female whales. That’s why people have a problem with it.

Cows and pigs are not endangered or close to it.

Erika

…Those people in the commercial aren’t even Japanese. Lol.
People who are anti-whaling and eat meat are hypocritical anyway. Not to mention the amount of pollution factory farming (especially of pigs) produces. That and global warming are probably way more detrimental to the ocean’s ecosystem.

concerned Filipino

Actually, I wouldn’t have a problem with whale hunting if most whale species weren’t endangered. That’s the real problem. Give the whale populations a few decades to recover.

PTSnake

Because whales eat fish to survive. It’s their food. Humans kill them for the fun/money.

it’s a whole diferent concept.

shazzb0t

Humans kill whales for fun? Haha, the money part I know, but the fun part.. not so much. Is there some place where I can sign to go on a whale killing trip?

http://tofusando.blogspot.com Akoua Doffou

This commercial is weird to the max…:S
VonSkippy

TofuUnion said: “Whales eat more fish than humans(It’s true)”

And where’s the published data (i.e. proof) for that statement?

Karasu-kun

It’s a traditional thing, it’s not hunting down every whale in the sea and exterminating them, why do people have such a problem with it? In addition to the pork comment above, how much rainforest is clearcut in order that McDonald’s keep their operation going with dead cows everyday?

Wow, why does this site — about life in Japan from a foreigner’s perspective, and news and entertainment in Japan — have so many detractors that have little to nothing to do with Japan or Japanese life? If you read a blog about a subject you don’t like because you’re “political” or a self-proclaimed “professional antagonist” or just a plain old insane fanatic for a cause or religion *cough* then you’re very, very sad. There are boards dedicated to your interests/psychoses, use them, get help, something. There’s no need to pollute a forum about a topic with your hatred and derision. I read this site to be entertained and informed, and that includes the comments section.
TofuUnion

VonSkippy: International Whaling Commission has the date about the assumption numbers of each whale species. They are monitoring which species are endangered or not. Therefore from those data they can calculate how many fish whales eat. Some report suggested whales might eat fish about seven times more than humans.

Anyway, Japan, Norway and Iceland are only allowed to hunt whales which are NOT endangered. These nations wanted to hunt more whales those numbers have been increased. But it was rejected by IWC.

the overthinker

I think whenever Japanese whaling comes up we need to remember two things. One, Japan could take as many whales as it liked if it left the IWC organisation. It’s not compulsory to join, after all. The fact that it doesn’t shows that whaling is at least intended to be kept within discrete boundaries, both for domestic and international political reasons. Second, whaling in Japan only really took off after modern ships were introduced a century ago, and only became significant after WW2 when SCAP encouraged it as a cheap beef substitute. It’s not really “traditional” in the usual sense of playing a significant role in pre-industrial culture.
http://higashiajia.wordpress.com Peter Pan

“Japan could take as many whales as it liked if it left the IWC organisation. It’s not compulsory to join, after all…”

Yes and no. It may not be compulsory to join in written rules, but most Japanese newspaper articles I’ve seen about the issue are quick to point out that the US threatened sanctions if Japan did not join when the organization was started. Some even claim this is because America was taking a lot of heat for being anti-environmental at the time (amazing how things have changed since then huh — involved in a war with no end in sight that no one is for both domestically and abroad, and the US is being bashed for being bad for the environment) and thus lead the push for such an organization.

My personal opinion on the issue is all that matters when discussing this is actual numbers of whales alive. People start talking about how certain animals are cute, and thus we can’t eat them, or perhaps how whales are mammals thus people can’t eat them, but it’s really hypocritical. Numbers are all that need to be talked about.

As for this video, it’s no surprise Australians value whale life more than human life — they have a major tourist industry based on whale watching, human rights have never been their thing so it must be acceptable to kill humans to protect their tourism industry. Or at least that’s what the Sea Shepherd thinks when they try and kill Japanese fisherman by ramming boats into them and throwing acid abroad. I’d like to see the Sea Shepherd’s captain and crew all arrested and held in Guantanamo (??sp??) for terrorism charges personally.

Mark

*…and held in Guantanamo (??sp??)…*

If you mean that Guantanamo (maybe) is in Spain, you’re wrong

http://higashiajia.wordpress.com Peter Pan

I’m looking for the Cuban one, where Michael Moore goes for health care

Haroon Piracha

Thats not even the right sound FX.

I dont eat whales, I am never gonna eat one, I dont think they should be anywhere near my food, clothes, I dont know, make up? I heard they use whales to make makeup.

regardless.

Scaring people into submission is like a slap in the face.

I don’t agree with this… I mean…
They should help the people in Iraq…. I guess Whales are easier to save? -.-
mootman

whales are bad mmmmmmkkkkkkk
http://www.users.bigpond.com/wearekosh/ fred

Only when all the trees are gone and the rivers are poisoned and the birds and animals are dead will some people realize that you can’t eat money!

Aussie Anti-Whaling Commercial: Harpooning Japanese People

Recent Comments

Further Reading

South Korean Government Demands That International Hydrographic Organization Use “East Sea”

Japanese Documentary About Sea Shepherd’s Protest Activities in Taiji (English Subtitles)

Babies Born on March 11th Receive Special Present

Washington Times Freelancer Slams Former Employer, Fails to Ethically Disclose Relationship?

Christopher Johnson Attempts to Silence Criticism of His “Gaijin Gulag” Article (Legal Threats!!!)

Tabloid Reports About Yu Darvish’s Love Life: Kirara Asuka & Miho Koga?

Does K-Pop Group KARA Have Ties to North Korea?

Tokyo Gate Bridge

Sara Errani Admits She Avoided Tennis Tournament in Tokyo: Feared Radiation

Chinese Workers Who Survived March 11th Tsunami Return to Tohoku

Categories

Archives

Subscribe

Japan Blogs

Korea Blogs

Linkroll

Other Asia Blogs