Sea Shepherd Should go Down in Flames
Or so implies Nakagawa Shoichi, an influential conservative who is not afraid to shoot off his mouth, and who seems to think that the coast guard should be shooting off their guns. “They should sink the Sea Shepherd to help [our research vessel],” he said, as captured in this article and on TV.
Observing Japan’s Tobias summed up the remarks:
Appearing on Fuji Television’s Hodo 2001 program on Sunday, Mr. Nakagawa said in reference to the hounding of Japanese whaling ships by a ship operated by the non-profit group Sea Shepherd in the Antarctic Ocean, “They have wounded Japanese. If the Coast Guard were to arrive, they should not just fire warning shots, they should ‘use force.’” Asked whether he was suggesting that the Sea Shepherd should be sunk, he replied, “Of course.”
Tobias goes on to say this issue is all about pride for the Japanese right, and I tend to agree.
Those are the kind of remarks we have come to expect of one of the most powerful yet outspoken conservatives in Japanese politics. But Mr. Nakagawa seems to have lots of company here in our very own comments. Personally I find statements like the ones below kind of sickening, but at least we have the jocular anonymity and exaggerative nature of the internet to blame for these (I hope). Mr. Nakakawa doesn’t really have such an excuse.
“They are the scum of the earth and I would personally kill every single one of them with pleasure.”
Jockell
“I can only hope that when Paul Watson’s ship goes down, sharks will eat the survivors.”
MK
“It would please me to no end if the Sea Shepherd boat sinks and they actually have to get the whalers to rescue them.”
Aaron
“Pity they didn’t aim for that fat head of his [Paul Watson's].”
madne0
–
*:of an unknown concentration and contested origin
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Why “Green Peace” in the title? Did Nakagawa mention Green Peace?
“protesters throwing acidic butter from the Sea Shepard at the whalers”
What they are throwing is not acidic butter but liquid butyric acid.
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my mistakes. I didn’t realize the ship is of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I thought I read that the acid was actually a form of rancid butter, but I’ll edit the article until I can confirm…
Okay, just confirmed the butter thing, so the caption has has been edited to be a little more clear. Thanks for catching the Green Peace thing; Green Peace has shunned these people.
“protesters throwing butric acid (akin to rancid butter or vomit) from the Sea Shepherd at the whalers”
The rumor that butyric acid is akin to rancid butter is misinformation propagated by Sea Shepherd. Impact of butyric acid on human body is totally differnt from that of rancid butter. Butyric acid is a harmful substance that can kill humans just by being administered onto the skin. Its LD50 (50% lethal dose) for acute dermal toxicity is 0.53 gram per kilogram body weight, which roughly means you can kill a man who weigh 70 kg by administering 37 g (= 0.53 x 70) of butyric acid onto the skin. I have written on the toxicity of butyric acid twice in the comment section of Japan Probe, but it seems you haven’t read them.
Australian government is doing nothing on this issue, even though they surely know the toxicity of butyric acid. This issue is not an issue of national pride but an issue of the security of civilians in the high seas.
However, of course, there is no sacred law stating that you can’t spread propaganda from Sea Shepherd and that you can’t parrot misdirected comments that you found on the net.
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Aki, I indeed haven’t read your comments. I didn’t write the posts you commented on and usually read the first five or so comments on any given post here, if I have time.
The fact is we don’t know the facts well. I read your post on your personal blog. If I was a betting man, I would say the goal of the acid is to cause a stink and ruin meat rather than maim whalers. That being said, the Sea Shepherd is engaging in really risky business.
“However, of course, there is no sacred law stating that you can’t spread propaganda from Sea Shepherd” I looked up the acid in Wikipedia; wasn’t going by the organization’s claims.
“you can’t parrot misdirected comments that you found on the net.” See, this part confuses me, because I think we would be on the same side with the quotes. You are making sound bad that I brought the news about the outrageous things people are saying, especially a very public figure’s words from the news. Conveying such information is one of the primary things bloggers do. Moreover it is hardly parroting if I provide context and commentary. You do quote people on your blog, right?
“I looked up the acid in Wikipedia; wasn’t going by the organization’s claims.”
Wikipedia says: “It is found in rancid butter, parmesan cheese, and vomit, and has an unpleasant odor and acrid taste, with a sweetish aftertaste (similar to ether).”
So you read the above description “butyric acid is akin to rancid butter or vomit.” I understand that in your post “rancid butter” and “vomit” were picked up and connected with “butyric acid” as you like.
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Ok, this has nothing to do with whaling, really, but with acid (the pH kind).
So, yeah, I imagine butyric acid could be pretty nasty IF it were highly concentrated. The same goes for hydrochloric acid, acetic acid (found in vinegar), etc. I’m not sure “37 grams of butyric acid” is very meaningful since you’re talking there about pure acid with no water molecules, not easy to come by I would think. So if it’s true that those on the Sea Shepard are really dropping acid (on the whaling ships) the picky question might be how concentrated is it. Is it concentrated enough to harm skin, corrode metal hulls of ships (ok, not likely), or just produce an unpleasant odor?
So, how does the SS deploy these acidic weapons anyway? Water balloons? Spray? Do they realize they may be contributing lowering the pH of the ocean?
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May I suggest someone edits the wiki to cover hazardous data if they deem it important enough? I have edited the caption once again.
oh my god! Claytonian, I am laughing up a storm here. I didn’t mean at all that you should edit your posted article. I was just addressing Aki’s concerns, which were a bit exaggerated. Now the caption sounds overly technical and silly. You should edit it back (jk). I am sorry I pressed an issue that’s beside the point anyway.
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Well I am trying to make everyone happy; hopefully the latest looks better…
kabocha5000, The lethal dose that I wrote is for acute death. Smaller amount of butyric acid can damage tissues and internal organs. Butyric acid has a nasty property that it is readily absorbed through the skin. Biodegradation products of butyric acid generated in the body are more toxic than butyric acid itself. They cause damage to the tissues and internal organs.
For detail, see Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). You can download detailed MSDS for butyric acid. Go to http://www.sciencelab.com. Then, search “butyric acid” using the search box on the top page. You can find a link to the PDF file below “n-Butyric Acid, Reagent”.
The followings are some of the health effects described in the MSDS for butyric acd.
Potential Acute Health Effects:
Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion. Hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant), of inhalation. Slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (corrosive, permeator). Liquid or spray mist may produce tissue damage particularly on mucous membranes of eyes, mouth and respiratory tract. Skin contact may produce burns. Inhalation of the spray mist may produce severe irritation of respiratory tract, characterized by coughing, choking, or shortness of breath.
Potential Chronic Health Effects:
The substance is toxic to lungs, the nervous system, mucous membranes. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage.
As for the concentration of butyric acid that Sea Shepherd is using, there is no data that is publicly available.
According to The Australian,
He said “butyric acid, which is a noxious stink bomb” rather than “stink bomb containing butyric acid”.
Also, butyric acid can be mixed with water. So if it is diluted, water is usually used. However, the liquid in the following photograph looks to be organic solvent rather than aquatic solvent. Undiluted butyric acid looks as organic solvent.
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=3592
Hydrochloric acid that you mentioned is gaseous at room temperature. So it is sold as an aquaous solution in which hydrochloric acid is dissolved. Usually, hydrochloric acid is sold as 37% solution in water. However, since butyric acid is liquid at room temperature, it is sold as pure liquid. When one says “butyric acid”, it usually means pure butyric acid that is organic liquid.
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Haha, if I knew that I would be quoted I would have elaborated it a bit more.
To be honest I quite admire Nakagawa for being so honest, not many politicians would dare to say that even when that is what they think. That is another reason why I love Japan as whole and not just its rich history and the otaku culture.
They strongly believe in their own country and have pride for it, compared to many other worthless countries where one would be called a racist for loving your own country.
The whale fishing is a prime example where Japan couldn’t care less about the rest of the world and don’t let anyone stop them from doing what they have done for a long time. Another good example is the strict customs to get into the country, I personally love that they take fingerprints and do a runthrough check of the people coming to their country so that they can keep out the scum and continue with their safe lives in the great society (with it own flaws, of course, but nothing compared to most other countries) which they have built.
And why would you miss the lives of some activists? They are an eyesore to society and don’t contribute to anything. If I had a button here that I could press that would instantly kill every single terrorist and extreme activist, I would press it without thinking for a second. It would make the world a much better place.
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press that button an extra time for me.
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Haha, if I knew that I would be quoted I would have elaborated it a bit more.
To be honest I quite admire Nakagawa for being so honest, not many politicians would dare to say that even when that is what they think. That is another reason why I love Japan as whole and not just its rich history and the otaku culture.
They strongly believe in their own country and have pride for it, compared to many other worthless countries where one would be called a r*acist for loving your own country.
The whale fishing is a prime example where Japan couldn’t care less about the rest of the world and don’t let anyone stop them from doing what they have done for a long time. Another good example is the strict customs to get into the country, I personally love that they take fingerprints and do a runthrough check of the people coming to their country so that they can keep out the scum and continue with their safe lives in the great society (with it own flaws, of course, but nothing compared to most other countries) which they have built.
And why would you miss the lives of some activists? They are an eyesore to society and don’t contribute to anything. If I had a button here that I could press that would instantly k*ill every single t*errorist and extreme activist, I would press it without thinking for a second. It would make the world a much better place.
* = Breaking a few “less good” words since my comment got filtered at first.
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If I knew I’d be quoted, I would have added a little sarcasm disclaimer. Or better yet, not posted at all.
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Japan really needs to spend more money on public relations development. They just blunder from one event to the other, and they are somewhere in the negative point range on a world PR scale. This is slightly off topic from the whaling issue, but I don’t understand why they put the least charismatic characters in front of the camera and hope to make any progress.
If they dealt with the Sea Shepard through the proper legal channels, as others have mentioned, and had someone with actual speaking skills, the government would probably be surprised with the results.
I may not have liked Koizumi’s policies, but his success was partly attributable to having charisma that was off the charts. I’m surprised people haven’t started putting two and two together yet. The country doesn’t need a simple pretty-boy, but Fukuda and Abe are pretty sad in this category.
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Operating a ship like that must cost a lot of money.
I wonder who sponsors this groupd?
Can the Japanese whalers and/or government sue the financial backers? Might be something to look into.
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Hollywood celebs and various individuals who strongly believe in Sea Shepherd’s violence-against-whalers policy.
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The Dali Lama has deep pockets
I just donated them 200$ from my salary, which I get from the Japanese government. They do other good things, like patrolling the Galapagos islands marine park against illegal fishing, as well.
Good that all the fans of whaling see whom they are siding with:
An old man with a bitter face in a suit. A sexist, a nationalist and an alcoholic. Someone who puts his nationalist agenda ahead of the preservation of endangered species and (foreign) human life. Someone who probably thinks that all foreigners are scum anyway.
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Indeed. I’ve been looking into them and feel that they engage in lots of worthy endeavors separate from this debacle.
The sad thing is alot of these so call “fans of whaling” who comment/vote here are really just immature, uninformed Japanophiles who live in the US, Europe or teaching English in Japan and have rosy one-sided views of Japan that they’re siding with Japan regardless. They probably don’t even know who Nakagawa Shoichi really is, or what Sea sheperd has done as an organzation. They just read about this “acid” accident on Japan Probe, which wwere written in rather un-insightful and bias way. So these readers just get all “OMG Japan is a poor poooorr victim and done nothing wrong, Those Australia are evil and need to be killed!!!!” even though they know nothing nor bother to learn more about it.
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sorry to say but i live in japan, don’t teach english and defiantly don’t see japan through rose coloured glasses. please don’t make un-insightful and bias assumption’s about reader’s of this site!
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The majority of the comments on this site prove my point. But then what can you expect from the kind of posts written here, especially the ones where they tried to be political-related and pretend to care about international issues. Reporting them in black/white uninform ways, then adding tabloid quality yes or no question such as “Do you think acid is bad” or juvenile questions like “would you rather save whale or Eat whale”.
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Mummy, your statements are a bit of a confused and self-contradicting mess. As for occasional silly vote choices: It’s probably good we have a sense of humor because people like you lack one. Balances things out. Heaven forbid we all share the same stuffy views about how things should be done on the internets.
Posted on the wrong damn article…sorry James!
Glad I wasn’t quoted. Way to attack your trusty readers Mr. Claytonian. All things read on the internet should be taken with a salt shaker. Ne?
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“All things read on the internet should be taken with a salt shaker.” I indicated as much.
There is no sacred law stating that I can’t quote from comments; it’s hardly an attack against readers, but a comparison between what a public figure is saying and what anonymous people on the internet will utter. Pulling quotes is very standard.
It’s not an attack on the readers to cite comments, although as someone mentioned in the above, I can’t say I’m exactly thrilled.
However, lumping us in the same category as Mr. Nakagawa and topping it off with his opinion is not exactly the best way to get on with readers, IMO.
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Can’t say i’m exactly thrilled to be quoted either, and if i knew i’d be used for quotes i’d temper my language (which was, of course, way over the top). Of course, i don’t think Mr. Watson should be shot in the head, but i do think his actions, and the actions of his boat were borderline criminal and he should be punished accordingly.
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Why the hell are the Japanese in the Antarctic?
The main reason they always give for grabbing whales is to preserve their local traditional food culture.
Imagine claiming a culture that stretches halfway around the globe to the Antarctic!
The Ozzies have a claimed EEZ down there. It’s a contentious claim no doubt, but a claim nevertheless.
Japan knows all about contentiously claiming EEZs. Look at Okinotorishima! (google that to find out about the shocking lengths Japan has gone to claim an EEZ around this speck of coral).
Imagine if some Ozzie fishermen steamed up to Okinotorishima to grab marine creatures for their “barbecue culture”… Japan would kick them out.
It’s this hypocrisy that people don’t like… and the arrogance of Japan imposing its culture and values on the Antarctic.
Japan should stick to grabbing in whales in the seas around Japan if it wants to preserve its oh-so-precious local traditional food culture. According to Japanese data there are an abundance of whales around Japan. That fact alone makes Japan’s Antarctic antics incomprehensible.
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Why the hell are the Aussies so desperate to get the Antarctic? Australia doesn’t have any LOCAL TRADITIONAL CULTURE in the Antarctic. If it wants to preserve its oh-so-precious local traditional culture, white people should return to Europe.
You’re absolutely right, but what you are saying applies to Australia too.
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“white people should return to Europe”
Trouble is, Europe doesn’t want them any more. Britain would rather let in Muslim terrorists than its own descendants.
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Hi Iamacat – you forgot to mention “massive Victorian-era expeditions” in your post here – just thought I’d point that oversight in your hyperbole out.
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In regards to Okinotorishima
Under the UNCLOS
1. An island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide.
2. Except as provided for in paragraph 3, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of an island are determined in accordance with the provisions of this Convention applicable to other land territory.
3. Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.”
It satisfies #1 so hence, it is an island.
So what the hell are Aussies doing in the Antarctic?
and you forgot “massive Victorian-era expeditions”
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its called internation waters. as long as they arent in violation of any other countrys waters let them fish. No one has a claim the Antarctic that I know of. legal ones anyways.
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I always get a kick out of this whole “It’s our culture!” whine that I get from Japanese associates who have never, and would not go out of their way to, eat whale. You’d think the Japanese have been engaged in deep water whaling for centuries. Fact is, they have not had ships that could get out of their own back yard, geographically speaking, until little more than a hundred years ago. The United States has MUCH more of a claim to a culture of whaling than does Japan, but America has been trying hard to develop a mature and responsible stance in the world (they have certainly screwed up over the last several years, but I am sure America will correct itself).
There wouldn’t be so much debate if Japan were restricting itself to traditional whaling methods in Japan’s own EEZ. Chasing whales in dugout canoes, however, takes the sort of fortitude that modern Japanese no longer possess.
Speaking of sinking ships, however, I wouldn’t mind see the Nishin Maru hit with a harpoon. . .an RGM-84 Harpoon SLAM, that is!
Given the state of the whaling industry in Japan and the fact that it is completely reliant upon subsidies from the taxpayer, if anything were to happen to the Nishin Maru, it seems unlikely that a new whale processing factory ship would ever be built.
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It seems you are confusing culture with tradition. Think of pop culture in Japan. It does not have centuries of tradition, but it certainly is a Japanese culture. Likewise, whaling in the Antarctic Ocean is a Japanese culture, regardless of its length of history.
Australian claim of Antarctic Continent is a sneaky unilateral claim unrecognized by the international community. No matter what they do, their claim will not gain any authenticity under Antarctic Treaty. Japanese ships are operating in the high seas. They are free to do so to the extent permitted by IWC.
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and what you just described is an of terrorism. so i take it that your one of the people who blamed Bush for everything. They are still within the law unlike the sea shepherd. paul waston is a douche.
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only cowards would “hunt” whales and call it “scientific research”. its really a slaughter. everyone knows it serves no purpose except maybe its a pathetic attempt to try to disprove that stereotype about having small dicks?
this is what happens when you have an army that never fights for real anymore and a culture that fetishsizes cute. you get all huffy and tuff with hippies armed with bottles of weak acid and assert that theres some kind of manliness in slaughtering defenseless animals.
japan, youre a laughingstock over this whaling thing, a fucking joke on the level of george bush.
pathetic.
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