Greenpeace Fights Whaling With Anime

An interesting Japanese language commercial from anti-whaling group Greenpeace:

Today, only one country in the world continues to conduct whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary: Japan.

There was a time in Japan during the food shortage hardships of the postwar period when whale meat was taken as a valuable source of protein. We are alive today thanks in a very real sense to this gift, so should we not reach out in gratitude to whales now and seek a path of peaceful coexistence? This is the message behind a beautiful new animated work by director Yamamura Koji. Please join us in eagerly anticipating its release.

It’s certainly better than a lot of other anti-whaling ad campaigns I’ve seen lately.

[via Zaeega]

17 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - September 13, 2007 at 5:37 am

Categories: General Japan Tags:

Sish

This is probably one of the most well done activist videos ever.

Not only does it explain why they once did it, but that it isn’t nessissary any more and they should return the favour.

Great animation too.

shazzb0t

I thought it was going to be manipulative, but I thought that it was well thoughtout and culturally sensitive. I think it is very important to discuss whaling’s origins in Japan in order to understand today’s whaling by Japan.

As I understand the situation though, Japan is NOT whaling endangered species and is whaling within limits that will not harm whale population i.e. they are not overwhaling. I think it is debatable issue. My personal opinion is anti-whaling though I have had whale meat in Japan. It isn’t my cup of tea.

http://hiddenblog1.blogspot.com/ The Unseen One

Excellent animation and an engaging short story. I have to appreciate how well done it was, even if I don’t agree with its message.

Ugh

You agree with whaling?

You are going to eat them right into extinction. 5 whale species are endangered.

http://hiddenblog1.blogspot.com/ The Unseen One

Just because I’m not in favor of an all-out ban doesn’t mean I think they should be hunted to extinction. In fact, it would be great if someone could figure out a way to farm them. After all, it’s not like the chicken is endangered.

Ugh

Its obviously not possible to farm a 50-200 tonne animal that eats 2,000-8,000 pounds of food per day…depending on the species.

The cost to raise one whale to maturity (even the smaller species) is monumental considering its living requirements.
Where would you keep the farm? It would have to be in the ocean, but one would have to own a size of the ocean that is much larger than any country does and it would have to be in the deep sea (as opposed to the shoreline).

The fact of the matter is that the only way to prevent extinction for the time being, is indeed, an all out ban. Perhaps in 100-200 years after the whale population has normalized and has reached “least concern of extinction” status then we can finally begin to have government regulated (in a global sense) whaling again.
Ugh

I don’t like Greenpeace either by the way. I find many of their their methods appalling, but I won’t let that cloud my judgment of what I believe is right/wrong/necessary.

VonSkippy

ZZZzzzzzz.

No robots or cartoon boobies – why would anyone watch this?
Evan

yeah, good ad. i wonder if it will have any impact. is it being shown on TV?

the unseen one,

farming is such a stupid idea i dont know where to begin. the animals are so big, their life cycle so long, the resources necessary to produce 1kg of flesh… aquaculture in general is very inefficient. every kilogram of industrially produced marine product usually requires another 10fold of wild catch. then you are also using more energy inputs to get the same amount of food.

sustainable harvesting of wild resources is the best way to go for marine resources. keep natural ecosystems more or less intact, and also benefit from taking some cream off the top. we can have our cake and eat it, so to speak. (btw. i dont think there are enough whales in the southern oceans to even consider harvesting them)
http://hiddenblog1.blogspot.com/ The Unseen One

> Its obviously not possible to farm a 50-200
> tonne animal that eats 2,000-8,000 pounds
> of food per day…depending on the species.

Not impossible, but not cost effective.

Sish

-My comment was deleted because I cared so much about saving the whales that I didn’t bother to read the discussion policy for this site and see that name-calling is not allowed.-

http://hiddenblog1.blogspot.com/ The Unseen One

Orcas have been bred in captivity, so no, it is not impossible.

Joe blow

No better way to do it anime crazed country, in a language they can understand…ANIME. I thought it was brilliant.
Joseph K

Why is the catch copy at the end only in English…?

It was quite a nice positivist look at things for once, though.

And yes, it’s still a debatable issue. As I understand it, to some extent, enough damage has already been done to the rarer species, that lesser species could see population explosions without whaling now, leading to increased competition for those rarer species and just as high a likelihood of extinction. Part of the problem also lies with Japanese whalers never seeming to stick to the rules they set out, or blatant lies in regards the quantity needed for “scientific research”.
And if you think about the definition of farming a bit more liberally, tracking migration and population levels with the intention of use as a food source is farming whales.
Pingback: links for 2007-09-13 | Samurai Soapbox
Pingback: Australian Anti-Whaling Video “Aimed at Japanese Children” : Japan Probe
roubai

If only they’d bothered to get the details correct…such as which way a kimono laps. :/

Greenpeace Fights Whaling With Anime

Recent Comments

Further Reading

Videos: Solar Eclipse Over Japan

Japanese H-IIA Rocket Carries South Korean Satellite into Space

Takeshi Kitano Compares Homosexuality to Bestiality?

Detective Conan Statues Vandalized

BBC Global Poll: Japan Has Most Positive Influence in the World

Photo: Tommy Lee Jones as General Douglas MacArthur

Tokyo Disney Resort Allows Gay Weddings

Sea Shepherd Leader Paul Watson Detained in Germany

Japanese Woman Opens Cat Cafe in Vienna

Misquoting Charlie Chaplin in Japan

Categories

Subscribe

Japan Blogs

Korea Blogs

Linkroll

Other Asia Blogs