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Anti-Japanese hatred grows after “The Cove” is shown in Australia

Attacked

The Australian media is reporting that there has been an surge of hate directed at Japanese people in Broome Shire, a town that had a sister city agreement with the Taiji, a town in Wakayama prefecture. Anger at Japan forced the town to dissolve its sister city agreement and now graveyards are being targeted:

Councillors of Japanese heritage and others have been verbally attacked in the Western Australian town of Broome, over a dolphin cull which occurs each year in Taiji.

The dolphin slaughter, which is documented in a new movie, “The Cove,” has also led to an attack on an historic Japanese cemetery.

ABC News Australia reported that opponents of the cull hung pictures of dolphins in the cemetery.

The head of the local government has declared that the debate has degenerated into racism and that the people responsible for the graveyard attack were “absolute morons.” Hatred of Japan has also led Broome Shire to cancel part of its annual Japan-themed pearl festival.

It was recently announced that the Tokyo International Film Festival will not screen “The Cove.” The creators of the documentary have claimed it is because the film is critical of Japan. There has been no official announcement of the exact reason for the rejection. I wouldn’t be shocked if the film makers intentionally sabotaged their own submission: news about Japanese rejecting their movie is great PR for their film.

My views on “The Cove” have not changed much since I wrote about it back in 2008. I haven’t been able to attend a screening of the film, but every clip I’ve seen and every article I’ve read confirm what I previously thought: this film isn’t going to win Japanese hearts and minds. It might even make matters worse by deepening the sense that Japan is under siege by cultural imperialists who feel they have the right to dictate the morality of eating certain types of animals.

After hearing about the anti-Japanese hate going in Australia, I searched twitter for comments about the Taiji dolphin hunt. There is a huge volume of “STOP JAPAN FROM KILLING DOLPHINS” comments, and it didn’t take long to find a few that were ridiculous and/or racist:

If you see your friends tweeting stuff like this, please tell them to control their emotions. Don’t let twitter turn into Broome Shire.

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100 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - August 28, 2009 at 4:54 pm

Categories: Anti-Japan Tags: hate, racism, taiji, The Cove

http://Colininjapan.com Colin

Broome Shire. Makes me think about hobbits

Ignorant racism. Great
nakamura25

Pretty soon these redneck Australians will start talking about Death Panels. Can’t really expect more from the descendants of prisoners. See? I can do it too. Making generalizations about a nation of 127 million based on the actions of a town of 3000 gets you nowhere.

Blacknimbus

Rednecks? These are good Friends of the Earth. These sound like your kind of people…hemp-wearing, Birkenstock shorn neo-hippies.

Please point me to a “redneck” that gives a fart about dolphins.

nakamura25

They’re not friends of the earth. They’re ignorant racists looking for an opportunity to spread hate.

Taglia3

I think it’s just human nature of being fundamentally dissatisfied with some things in our personal lives and so when the opportunity arises to vilify an exterior element, we jump at the occasion involuntarily so, appeasing the feelings we all have bubbling inside about ourselves but lacking the psychological tools to deal with them properly.
That goes for the Aussies towards Japan, and us towards that Town.

weirdo

Wonderful.
Ryry

Why are dolphins so great anyway?

Brenda Robinson

Why are dolphins so great?

Here is an article I have framed in my home:

“Diviner than the dolphin is nothing yet created” the author of that quote is Oppian, Halieutica.

The dolphin as NURSE

Dolphins often buoy sick or injured dolphins and support their newborn calves above water so that they can get their first breath.

The dolphin as LIFEGUARD

Hundreds of swimmers and sailors have been saved from drowning by dolphins who pushed them to safety.

The dolphin as PILOT

There are numerous records of dolphins guiding ships through dangerous waters to safety.

The dolphin as PROTECTOR

Last year off the coast of Florida, dolphins defended a group of ship-wrecked sailors from attacking sharks.

This is an animal that possesses extraordinary skills we have only begun to understand. And one which has offered us nothing but kindness.

For more information contact “Earth Island Institute”.

Learn about them and you will know and understand and hopefully you will come to love them and be a voice for them too.

nakamura25

“Why are dolphins so great anyway?”

It’s evil to kill any animals that white people don’t like to eat.

adfadsadsasd

Hmm… so they are not even endangered? Then I’d like to taste it too.

nakamura25

They’re not endangered but the meat is full of mercury.

alphamone

as is almost every sea creature high on the food chain, which is why you limit your intake of it.

http://talesovercoffee.blogspot.com Brad F.

I think part of it might be because dolphins are one of the most intelligent animals on the planet.

http://www.japanprobe.com James

So are pigs:

http://blogs.discovery.com/news_animal/2009/06/top-10-most-intelligent-animals.html

Brenda Robinson

No, that is not it. Read my comment above and you might start to understand.

lmshea

Anger at Japan and the Japanese may or may not be misguided; but it is not racism or racist. Oriental (which includes Japanese, Korean, Chinese Tibetian, Thai etc) is a “race” – Japanese is a nationality.

http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net Jordan

Oriental is a outdated term that no one, but people from the 1920′s say.

We tend to call people from those places Asians now a days.

lmshea

Well, one problem with that is that American Indians are Oriental (originating in the same Mongolian plain as their Korean cousins) – but they are not Asians. What we say “now a days” often loses something of the original.
The Overthinker

That only applies in the US. The rest of the world still uses Oriental, especially in the UK where “Asian” more often refers to South Asian.

TO

Ah yes, you are correct there, Overthinker. I forgot that, at least in England, they have an understanding of what the “Far East” means as opposed to the rest of ‘Asia” and say “Oriental” to indicate the Japanese, Chinese and the Koreans. That’s actually not too bad, really.

RMilner

British people call Japanese, etc. Oriental because we use the word Asian for people from the Indian sub-continent.

The idea that Oriental is racist is a modern American thing.

The word simply means belonging to or appurtaining to the East.

R

‘The idea that Oriental is racist is a modern American thing.
The word simply means belonging to or appurtaining to the East.’

that’s why it became ‘racist’. there were three ‘oriental’ kids in my 5th-grade homeroom before that term became a ‘racist american thing’…
Fiona

@RMilner: But that’s the problem. Because merely saying “they’re from the east” is still ethnocentric, no? It’s saying people ought to be referenced with your part of the world as the focal point. Such that they should only be identified in terms of how they related to you. Which is prejudiced…
RMilner

I really can’t see how identifying Japanese people as oriental — coming from the East — is a racist stereotype, any more than calling British people ‘westerners’. We are.

The nation someone comes from has a massive influence in terms of language and culture, it would be completely unrealistic to ignore it.

If you are mean the stereotyping of particular US citizens as oriental because they have oriental genetic inheritance, that’s a different thing.

I agree that kind of stereotyping is wrong, however I don’t see how calling them Asian is any less offensive. It’s still stereotyping and it simply confuses them with Asians from India.
The Overthinker

“Such that they should only be identified in terms of how they related to you. Which is prejudiced….”

Guess we better stop referring to “Western” culture then…..
http://www.twitter.com/christaran Karisu

This is the first I’ve ever heard that “oriental” is racist. When exactly was this agreed on?

Sure, I’ve barely heard the word used, but I thought it just fell out of fashion, not that it somehow became racist.
LB

@Overthinker – indeed. And the origins of Western culture are well east of where I grew up…

Old joke: New York is “east”, Omaha is “mid-west”, LA is “west”, and Jerusalem is “mid-east”. No wonder folks there are so lost, they’re wandering around in the sand looking for Cleveland.

@Karisu – “oriental” became “racist” right about the time describing someone as “mentally retarded” became “blatantly discriminatory”. I believe this was only slightly before the untimely demise of common sense.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers: My Rights, and I am a Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
TO

LB, I think that whole “blatantly discriminatory” thing came around right about when the concept of “P.C.” (political correctness) and “affirmative action” took hold in the U.S. where, in the latter, people who aren’t even qualified for the job got it over people who do because the corporations needed to fill their race quota.

http://www.chirimotsumoreba.net Jordan

For all the talk that has gone here about racism, I never said it was so. I said it was outdated, which, despite your objections, it is. No one in academia uses this term, you never hear it on the BBC or any other place where higher discourse takes place.

By all means, continue to use it, but at least know it is antiquated.

fh

Why can’t “Japanese” be both a nationality and an ethnicity? (the latter of which I would argue is often used to define “race”)

Even if you think “Japanese” is not a “race”, that doesn’t mean the actions here aren’t racist in characteristic. Watching one film and then accepting that all “Japanese are dolphin killers” is no better than the ignorance that surrounds [insert any stereotype applied to any other ethnicity].

What happens if this film is the only thing most of its viewers “learn” about Japan, and those people form some sort of action group to antagonize every Japanese person they meet?

These types of films usually exploit people’s emotions. It’s perfectly fine to be emotional about things like this, but when you want to bring yourself to action, you need to learn to think rationally and not with blind emotion.
The Overthinker

Oh, and the original term was Mongoloid rather than Oriental.
Tree

Anger will always turn into racism one way or another.

LB

Of course, it is completely acceptable to kill kangaroos, and just leave the carcasses where they fall. Swinging a joey by its legs and cracking the skull on the bumper of your ute is also a completely legitimate and approved method of killing them if you find one in the pouch of the female you just shot. Seriously. The Australian Game Commission (I think that was what the government agency was called, it has been a while since I saw the rules on hunting kangaroo) says so.

I’ve had Aussies tell me its different, roos are “feral”, wander around on the range eating any plant they can and are “not fit for human consumption”. I didn’t know Aussies were such wimps and fussy eaters. I grew eating venison, bear, raccoon, squirrel and even skunk (not everyday of course, but when it was on the menu I didn’t complain), but we called them “wild”, not “feral”, and they were perfectly healthy animals right up until they ended up dead and on the plate.

Funny that – free range kangaroos are “feral” and “unfit to eat”, but Aussie free-range beef is “healthy” and “better for you than barn-raised beef”. Since one of the justifications for killing kangaroos is they are competing with the cattle on the ranges, I figure they are eating the same plants and all, so what makes the beef safe?

The Overthinker

Aussies do eat kangaroo meat. Don’t know what those Aussies are telling you. Not as much as other meats, mind you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_meat
and ignore the rantings of PETA in this:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25972478-663,00.html

“eating venison, bear, raccoon, squirrel and even skunk”

That is surely not common for Americans though. Well, aside from the venison.
The Overthinker

“leave the carcasses where they fall.”

No, that is not allowed. You need to bind it with ropes to the ground, as the famous Australian intellectual Rolf Harris noted in this well-known set of instructions regarding some of the indigenous animals of Australia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lofgud4wLLo

LVW

Hahaha, ROLF! I mean, ROFL!!

RMilner

Twitter is designed for exactly the sort of mindless brainfart message that these people are using it for.

LVW

Can we call them ‘Twits’?

Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson sheds tears for no stupid animal. And don’t tell me dolphins are smart. If they’re so smart, they’d organize a resistance. They are dumb animals and have no more purpose than anything in the ecosystem, including delicious chickens and cows.

Brenda Robinson

I feel sorry for you Charles Bronson.

You are missing out on so much with that attitude and belief.

http://www.twitter.com/christaran Karisu

I’ll stick to only eating cows, chickens, pigs, and fish. I find anything else (meat-wise of course) utterly repulsive.

However, there are people that eat all sorts of things, and if that’s what they enjoy then as long as they’re not driving something to extinction, then that is fine with me.

Why do people care what others do so much? Can’t people just worry about themselves?

The only valid complaints I can see is if the Japanese were hunting endangered animals, or if they were personally killing someones dolphin pet.

Then again a part of me does understand to an extent, as there is 1 animal that I can’t bear to think of as food (dogs). So maybe for some people they feel the same way about dolphins that I do dogs.

Still, you don’t see me forming protests or causing harm to those that do eat dogs.
Gaia Parade

Has anyone commenting on this film actually seen it?
nigelboy

Well, I’m not surprised that these racists started to roam around the grave sites for just a few years ago, some of them vandalised the Japanese grave stones and the Shire of Broom had to install gates and cameras. If I remember correctly, it got so bad to a point where three Japanese women were victims of assault and the Foreign Ministry even had to issue a warning about traveling to Broome.
Tae

Targeting japanese people is stupid. the japanese don’t shit about what there government does. And these people are idiots for not taking at least 5 minutes to think an realize that.
pixel_bomber

I don’t think I have actually seen dolphin on a menu here in Japan. Is it served only in specific areas or seasons?

I have had Kangaroo many times though, it’s not bad at all.

http://www.squidoo.com/Ryoma-Sakamoto Eric

Dolphin is not commonly eaten in Japan. As far as I know, it’s only eaten in Wakayama Prefecture, and even there it’s often labeled as whale. Actually, most Japanese have no idea that Dolphin is eaten in Japan.

Judging from the clips I’ve seen, one of the points this documentary makes is that the Taiji dolphin culling is carried out in a secretive way, and not well covered by the Japanese media.
LVW

I know you asked specifically about menus, but I did see some dolphin meat (or at least, meat labelled as such) at several stalls at a fish market in Shizuoka earlier this year. That doesn’t shed much light on whether the locals eat it or not, but the sale of it is certainly not limited to Wakayama prefecture.

http://www.squidoo.com/saigo-takamori Eric

Now that you mention it, a woman I know who hails from Shizuoka once mentioned to me that she’d seen dolphin meat on sale in her prefecture; she also said that she’d never tried it herself, but obviously, someone must be eating it if it’s being stocked on shop shelves.

Marcello

I 3rd that statement. Dolphin meat is available at at least one fish market in Shizuoka.

And as far as whale meat goes, there is a whole store dedicated to it in Asakusa. One of the top 5 international tourist destinations in Tokyo. I’m surprised that whale meat shop hasn’t been covered by Japan Probe, or has it?

But generally speaking, most Japanese, especially the younger generation, don’t eat whale, or especially dolphin meat on a regular basis. But if you choose to do, you can in Japan. It’s definitely not Australia when it comes to food choice.

I have heard average Japanese people saying that dolphins are a pest to fishermen, and interfere in their business. Probably just propaganda feed to them by the pro-fishing media/dolphin killing fishermen.

Maybe us Australians have also been feed propaganda by the kangaroo killing farmers.

We should definitely clean up our own backyard before poking our noses into others’. But that doesn’t mean we can’t lend a helping hand when it’s needed.

As for the grave vandals in Broome, sounds like the same kind of people who beat up the Japanese school kid, and called him a whale eater. Just ignorant losers that needed an excuse to pick on someone/thing weaker than them.

kanoe81

If these were Swedish people hunting dolphin, I doubt the Aussies would be as outraged.

Brenda Robinson

That is not true Kanoe.

People who care about animals will defend them regardless of the country who is being cruel to them.

I am Canadian and am against the Canadians that club our seals to death.

I am also against the Norwegians for killing whales.

AA

Out where the river broke
The bloodwood and the desert oak
Holden wrecks and boiling diesels
Steam in forty five degrees

The time has come
To say fair’s fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact’s a fact
It belongs to them
Let’s give it back

How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning

The time has come to say fairs fair
to pay the rent, now to pay our share

Four wheels scare the cockatoos
From Kintore East to Yuendemu
The western desert lives and breathes
In forty five degrees

The time has come
To say fair’s fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact’s a fact
It belongs to them
Let’s give it back

How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning

The time has come to say fair’s fair
To pay the rent, now to pay our share
The time has come, a fact’s a fact
It belongs to them, let’s give it back

How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
Rabbo

WHITE AUSTRALIA POLICY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_Policy

and people around the world wonder why it’s fooked up down there.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252444/

No matter how many generations – this stuff WILL go on. Because I say so.
Syd

They’re keeping their own people clueless in Australia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Australia#Country_of_birth

They honestly have not got a clue as to what to with themselves. So many immigrants, yet they honestly believe they are some sort of special, supreme white race descended from what – PRISONERS! My goodness. Who would ever want to be friends with an Australian-English white man? They’ve got more Chinese down there than the Japanese! But then again, they can’t tell the difference, right? And yeah Nazis were white too, ya know

The Overthinker

“And yeah Nazis were white too, ya know”

Wow, yeah, the Nazis were white. I guess then since the Nazis were also humans that all humans are Nazis.

Can we have a rule that any post that fulfills Godwin’s Law gets deleted as spam?

TheCoveIsBrilliantDocco

Weren’t the Japanese & Nazi’s both fighting the Allied forces together?

Mary

Nothing but nastiness comes out of the United Kingdom:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convictism_in_Australia

they’ve just been spreading their lies and disgust for centuries!

St John

Yes, we British are the cause of all the worlds ills. Where are you from Mary? It must be such a wonderful place.

jc

Where can I order dolphin/whale food and other delicacies? I suddenly feel like provoking Australians for fun.

Brian

There’s a shop called Kujira-ya in Shibuya, Tokyo, if you want to try it. It serves all whale meat, pretty good prices, too. There is also a whale meat store nearby that sells tons of varieties of frozen and canned whales.

It is, however, chock full of lead, so I wouldn’t make a habit of it.

http://optimisticpenguin101.blogspot.com/ Sara

Hey people I am hearing a lot of angry and hate-ful some racist things here, is that no better than what they were saying. Honestly, it is silly and counter intuative to just sling insults back at them.

However I do find it strange how one people can decide what is acceptable to eat and what isn’t, after all alot of fishing boats all around the globe do deep sea trawling which is destroying the ocean floor and wiping out so many species of fish.

I think that we should not hunt and eat animals that are indangered, and that the other animals we do eat should be killed humanly. (p.s. ignor my terrible spelling).

I haven’t seen the film, but may out just to see what all the fuss is about, I however am not angry at Japan or Australia, just angry and disapointed that even in this century people still let ignorant assumptions and past history get the better of them, and behave like children, no worse than children.

Thats all I have to say on the matter.

Sara ^.^
saru-kun

Sooner or later the next “in” thing to protest will come around and the hippies and yuppies will forget all about the poor tasty dolphins. I wouldn’t worry too much about this. I can still get a whale burger at Lucky Pierrot right?
CJ

That is exactly what I thought it would happen. The documentary was made by a “good intention” but it aroused hatred. They need more literacy to watch documentary and how the things are working BEHIND the camera.
KT

I’m very sad that a small, ignorant section of the population has once again tarred a whole country with a negative image. I really hope that not all Australians are seen as backwards, racist, *white* rednecks, just as I really hope not all Japanese are seen as dolphin-killers. I know I live in a multicultural country. I see it every day, everywhere, and I feel lucky that I’m part of it.

As for dolphin harvesting being ‘genocide’, well that’s just laughable. Gasp! Hundreds of thousands of cows are murdered in the U.S. every year! Millions of tuna are rounded up and assassinated in the North Seas! It seems that only animals that are made into cute little figurines for your mantelpiece aren’t for eating.
HamachiMan

Some of those Australian news sites are hilarious, comments wise. Basically they are trying to make this some sort of Japanese conspiracy, whereby Japanese themselves are spreading “false rumors” about the racial hatred expressed and actions taken by some Australians from this movie. The Japanese always was and always will be the most convenient targets of hatred and easy pickings for whatever their countrymen do or say.
menotu

Lots of people used to eat meat stuffed by Freddie Mercury but it did kill him.
Louis

Seem like Denmark fish in similar fashion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj6j6MRbdyw

I can’t say if this is right or wrong because I eat meat. Raising Cow/Pig/Chicken in a farm is no better than whaling like this. Treat Animal Humanely? You are going to kill these animal one way or another. I don’t see how humane we can be because we are killing the animal? Here, I let you run around in the farm and give you all the food you ever want to eat… then I’ll chop your head after several months. Sad but true.

Even if you are vegetarian, your trash end up in the ocean and your house was built on a forest where animal lives.

The one thing I do consider eating less is shark fin.
Louis

An interesting video I found on the whaling in other part of the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj6j6MRbdyw

I can’t say if this is right or wrong because I eat meat. Raising Cow/Pig/Chicken in a farm is no better than whaling like this. Treat Animal Humanely? You are going to kill these animal one way or another. I don’t see how humane we can be because we are killing the animal? Here, I let you run around in the farm and give you all the food you ever want to eat… then I’ll chop your head after several months. Sad but true.
DDD

People really need to cool it with the holocaust comparisons. It is a dumb argument. I don’t know if its illegal to kill dolphins or whales in japan so if it is illegal is should not be done. We all kill and eat living things to live. A potato is as alive as a chicken is. Yet all i hear is how KFC and Popeyes chicken is like the holocaust of chickens. Its exciting and sex to think you are fighting for these animals that cant speak up. I understand these people think what they are doing is righteous. That is what makes it dangerous saying “holocaust”… makes it justifiable in some peoples eyes to inflict harm on others. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.If you are mad at Japan dont buy Japanese good period.

The Overthinker

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.If you are mad at Japan dont buy Japanese good period.”

That is exactly what the road to hell looks like. Grand gestures that make you feel good and accomplise not merely nothing but actively cause harm to those that are innocent. Precisely what responsibility does a factory worker at Toyota have for killing dolphins that his livelihood needs to be threatened?

DDD

I see what you tried to do there but you missed the overall tone of what I wrote and tried to pick apart 1 piece. People like this are dangerous who throw around words like holocaust, Hitler, or Nazi.It is used to justify violence. I personal like Japanese products and will continued to buy them.but if I had to choose for these hate instilling people to hurt Japan financially or commit an act of hate or worse and an act of terror …well its easy to pick which. and please no freedom of speech grand standing. They should be allowed to say what they want anyone should but these words that can justify violence for they should know they are indirectly responsible as well.

The Overthinker

“I had to choose for these hate instilling people to hurt Japan financially or commit an act of hate or worse and an act of terror”

Again, you are missing the target. “Japan” is not the enemy in this case, the people who kill the dolphins are.

“words that can justify violence”

Interesting. In the wider sense, do you consider that such justification would/could be legitimate, or that while people can claim words made them be violent, their justification is merely an excuse?

M

As an Australian, I can honestly say that I’m saddened/embarrassed that that some of my countrymen seem to value animals over keeping amicable relationships between countries.

LVW

Agreed. It’s disgusting that the Broome Shire felt it had no choice but to deliver the ultimatum to Taiji out of fear for the safety of its councillors and other residents of Japanese ancestry; but I find it equally appalling that the sister cities relationship is being used not to promote mutual understanding, but to apply political pressure in what is supposed to be an equal relationship.

http://witzl.blogspot.com/ MaryWitzl

I’ve seen part of that film and it doesn’t make me come close to hating the Japanese; I do wish they’d have more respect for endangered species, but then look at the U.S. Navy and their sonar system. As for the brutality issue, only a tiny minority of meat-eating people in any country know just how any of the animals we eat are slaughtered. And I’ve read a lot of those awful comments made in Australia, and it doesn’t make me come close to hating Australians. Every country has people with knee-jerk stupidity; why should Australians be the exception? Fortunately, every country has people like M above, too.
troy

I find it hard to believe that a film like The Cove or the issue of killing dolphins would be the real cause of racist attacks against Japanese. Certainly they may have been triggers for long-established sentiments and hatred but certainly not the cause.
TofuUnion

Why only Anti-Japan ?
Iceland, Norway and Denmark do the same Dolphin slaughter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj6j6MRbdyw&fmt=18

The Overthinker

Iceland, Norway and Denmark are too far away and insignificant. To your average Aussie, Iceland produces ice, “Norway” means “forget about it, I won’t do it,” and Denmark is Dennis’s signature.

HamachiMan

Again there is an obvious racial and historical component to ‘Japan bashing.’ You saw it in the auto import wars of the 80′s and 90′s and you see it now with the whale issues. Plenty of other countries also have issues, some have also been vigorously attacked (such as the seal hunts) but let’s face it, it’s “easy” to hate the Japanese. You know, the whole thing about world war 2 and all?

pixel_bomber

What the hell! Anonymous people on the internet said outrageous things? People sent angry e-mails?? Photos of dolphins in a graveyard, how horrible.
I think some of you take this way too seriously.
hoihoi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7e3wE3wYco

they acts like the korean or chinese
The Cove

It seems that the people commenting on The Cove have not actually seen it. In no way is it anti-japanese. But if people want to use the film to excuse their racism that is another story.

The Cove is an unbelievably compelling film dealing with two narratives. One Rick O’Barry’s struggle in coming to terms with helping to create a billion dollar industry of Dolphins in captivity. Many of these Dolphins you find around the world come from Taiji. The second, the Dolphin killing at Taiji.
Rick’s arguments are the following. One, Dolphins die of stress in captivity. Two, in Japan fisherman are being told by the government that Dolphins are pests, depleting the amount of fish in the ocean and creating lower gains for fisherman. Killing them is a sort of pest control. These fisherman are also feeding the meat to the population deceiving them, labeling it as whale meat. Unbeknownst to Japanese and most of the world, Dolphins, like humans feed on top of the food chain meaning the fish they eat are laced with mercury and subsequently Dolphin meat contains toxic amounts of mercury. So this meat is basically poisoning the population. And all this is done in secret at a cove in Taiji.
The movie is more about our humanity than anything else. The way the dolphins are killed holds no compassion and even less reason. Just like Food Inc. deals with the humanity of how we treat farmed animals, Rick is pleading to the international community on the abuse of these animals, and the entire ecosystem.
I highly suggest watching the Cove. Rick’s struggle to come to terms with his guilt is heart wrenching, and his dedication inspiring. It is a splendid piece of filmmaking.

http://www.squidoo.com/saigo-takamori Eric

It sounds like a very interesting film. I definitely want to see it.

tellos

What about the Kangaroo slaughter?????
Tiago

Nobody complains about the cow and pig slaughter going on systematically in our culture. People are blinded by media so much and this is the final result.
nico

White Australia policy
Cronulla
This whale thing
Recent attacks on Indians

…….at least, in comparison to UK or US, racism looks still pretty strong in Australia. Being hated by racists is nothing.

Naiveness-induced racism is a bit harder to deal with than ill-will induced ones like Apartheid.

The Overthinker

If you’re going to make a comment about how racism is “still pretty strong” in Australia, bringing up the White Australia policy is pretty dumb, since that is long since history.
thedaz

nico that is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard..and a lot of minority groups (blacks and hispanics and indigenous people in the US, and Indian/Pakistani/Bangladesh, Afro-Caribbean and gypsy people in the UK) would laugh at what you just wrote..as I did.

Racism is alive and well in most countries including Japan,and it just depends how far down you want to scratch.

Brenda Robinson

I saw it yesterday. I agree, it is not anti-Japan, the message is to stop the small group of men who are involved in this barbaric and cruel activity.

It was well done.

Thank you Rick for making this movie, and for all that you do for the dolphins.

Keep up the fight. There are many behind you, including me.
http://www.edwardcating.wordpress.com edward Cating

I also saw the film last night. I think it is strident, and actively seeks to change hearts and minds – so in this sense it is polemical. However, it uses several instances to point out that Japanese, in general, do not support the Dolphin cull in Taiji. Where it becomes trenchant is with the individuals who are involved in the cull, as well as with the policies of the IWC and, in particular, the Japanese delegation. This is not an unusual nor a wrong-headed tack for a polemic, where one targets the opposition to one’s cause with heated rhetoric.

In this case, people who oppose the killing of whales and dolphins do so out of the possibility that cetaceans represent a level of consciousness akin to our own. This supposition raises the level of concern to one categorically different from that of the argument over killing, say, chickens for food. If it is true that cetacean consciousness is more similar to human consciousness than to cow, pig, or horse consciousness, then killing them seems more heinous than killing these other creatures. On the other hand, there are those in PETA, as well as in other groups, that seem to believe that self-awareness is common throughout the animal kingdom and is but a matter of degree. To these, killing any animal is unjust.

That a cultural bias runs deep in this argument is clear when one reads the posts here. It exists on both sides of the argument, in much the same way that a religious bias exits on each side of the abortion debate in America. Those on either side are unwilling to cede what is “obvious” to them to the other side. And moral certitude leads each side to be unlikely to accept compromise.

Personally, I would prefer the dolphin cull to end in Taiji and elsewhere, simply on the grounds that humans are creatures that have evolved to a high level of technological prowess largely on the basis of one opposable digit, the thumb, and a brain that is suitably complex to serve as a platform for self-aware consciousness, and that it may be that within the cetacean realm that whales and dolphins have evolved a similar level of conscious self awareness. But without the thumb. Or the need for technology. I would rather we could all choose to eat the dumber things first, I suppose.

Best to you all.
b

Growing anti-Japanese hatred
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/builder-james-anthony-dean-willcocks-charged-held-over-race-hate-killing/story-e6freuy9-1225785561877

thedaz

yeah as tragic as that is and despiet the language he used,a quick read will let you know that the guy was off his head on something and probably a pyschopath anyway.I think that in general,multiculturalism has worked well in Australia,but you will always have the people in all races that should probably have been aborted at birth…like this idiot.Australia is a big country and some places are isolated and haven7t experienced much diversity,but if you were to visit Sydney you would be surprised by the amount of Asian faces.There are more Asians (around 6% of the population) in Australia than Indigenous people so I can’t imagine this being the case if people didn’t generally get along well.

H

this movie just gives another reason to be racist to japanese people. and JAPS?? are you serious? I’m Japanese and it hurts to see this happening in Japan too, but at the same time I’m embrassed and annoyed because it just creates another reason for people who get influenced easily to start saying “oh. japanese people = dolphin killers.” OK. Ugh. i hate this.
Sara Keltie

I am an Australian citizen, I am also a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society volunteer and I felt that this documentary did the complete opposite to what you are suggesting. If anything it showed how the Japanese government, like all Governments around the world, are manipulating their people through media control. The Japanese people on the street knew nothing of what was going on, but when they saw it they were appalled! And let us not forget the two Taiji council members who were a total compliment to the Japanese people, who had the courage to stand up against what was going on to protect school children from eating this highly toxic meat. We all walked out of the film afraid for the children who ate this produce!
We have Japanese volunteers at Sea Shepherd and I think the world of them, I can not imagine the bravery it takes to stand up for the cause of protecting the oceans the way they do, knowing full well that their families do not know the full truth and extent of what is going on. This documentary, like Sea Shepherd, is not anti-japanese but anti-marine mammal slaughter.
I walked out of the documentary thinking:
If only all the people of Japan knew what was going on we would have some passioante, compassionate, respectable allies!!
This film shows governments in a bad light, not the citizens of the nation. I think you have this all wrong and if anything I believe you are inducing racial hatred towards Australians.

Lisa B.

I agree… that is probably why it is not being shown in Japan. It is yet another way to keep it all hush hush. Can you imagine a revolt coming from that kind of population? A lot of people would have to answer a lot of tough questions.
Will

The problem is that you and your Hollywood friends aren’t really giving us the whole story here. I think that your cause is being seen as anti-Japanese because you fail to mention all of the other countries around the world that hunt whales and dolphins and only focus on Japan.

Honestly, I thought the killing of the dolphins in Taiji was awfull and unecessary. However, I think we should show more repect and not act like it is only the Japanese that hunt animals for food. Did you know that people hunt elk, deer, moose, bears and other animals in North America purely for sport? Why aren’t all of you enviromental nuts and left wing hollywood elites protesting and making movies about that? Japan is an Island nation. They’ve traditional relied on the ocean for food. There was a recent case in Wyoming where a bunch of Cowboys encircled a heard of elk and gunned them down killing 20+ some elk. How would we like it if some foreigners came here and made a movie to show all of the world that Americans are evil animal killers.

Lisa B.

It is ignorant to blame Japan as a country for what is going on in Tiji. Granted, it has happened in other parts of Japan but now Tiji is the focal point. It is very hard to stomach the footage. Especially if you are an animal lover. But the real problem for me was that PEOPLE are being fed contaminated meat. They are being lied to by their government. I mean, here in the U.S. we can relate to being lied to. For anyone to write such awful things about the Japanese people as a whole or anyone but the government is totally ignorant. That is the world we live in. People need to really think about who is to blame before opening their mouths.
kayo

As a common Japanese I myself don’t eat dolphins but I know that in this small village some people eats dolphin as their traditional local food. In my hands opinion dolphins are really cute and very friendly to human so I love them and I can’t imagine to have them as a dish for my dinner but I understand there’s a different culture in the world, even within this small country and I think we need to think about and try to accept those difference with some respect, like,people in India doesn’t eat cow as they think cow is the symbol of the god but they never asked us to stop to eat cow because they are sacred didn’t they?
As for dolphin hunting, the Faeroe Islands in Denmark also has this tradition as you may know but seems only Japan got this criticism, one thing that I am wondering if racism toward colored-people might influence on this bashing-movement worldwide…
Chris

I find it curious that Denmarks dolphin slaughter never gets air time. No mention of the evil Danes in the cove. Crap like this and sea shephards crusade just fan racist anti Japanese sentiment amongst bogans, even if it isnt the intention. Oh and meanwhile Norway slaughters more whales than Japan but the average Aussie bogan only cares about japanese whaling. No this isnt about the Japanese is it.
ufohkslb

after seeing the cove my whole perspective about dolphins has changed.I believe that Dolphins are just as important as us humans.Its not OK to just capture them stab them and sell the Dolphins meat.Also knowing that dolphins meat is the worst meat filled with tons of mercury. Which can eventually kill you if you eat it everyday. I’m proud of Ric o Berry and his crew for their amazing work on this situation.they took it responsibly in order to capture the footage he needed.And personally they did amazing in order to show the world.for 20 years i had no idea about this issue until the cove came out.i am now trying to advocate for this slaughtering of dolphins!!!!

Anti-Japanese hatred grows after “The Cove” is shown in Australia

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