Chinese cartoon about Taiji dolphin hunt
September 21st, 2009 by James
Since most Japanese place names are written the same in Japanese and Chinese, one occasionally comes across Chinese links when running kanji search queries through Google News.
While searching for news stories about Taiji, the Japanese town that is being targeting by animal rights activists because of its dolphin hunt, I found the following tasteful cartoon in the Jiangmen Ribao newspaper.
I can’t read Chinese, but I’m guessing that the dolphin blood splattering all over the Japanese national flag is an indication that the article depicts Japan in a negative light.
While we’re on the topic of Taiji, here are two links that share some news:
- Link 1: A Chunichi Shimbun article (in Japanese) sadly recalling that one year has passed since the death of Ku, Nagoya Aquarium’s beloved orca. The article says that Ku originally came from the Taiji Aquarium, which means he was probably captured after being driven into the town’s infamous cove.
- Link 2: CBS News and the Associated Press provide some PR for “The Cove” by playing up claims that its director is risking arrest by attending a screening of the film in Japan.
- Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
- dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
- Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)
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Hmm, a Chinese editorial ostensibly criticizing Japanese dolphin hunting.
Needless to say, I won’t go there.
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That’s funny, maybe they should print a picture of Mao pointing a finger at the Baiji with a mad group of peasants behind him hold pitchforks ready to attack. Or how about a picture of the Three Gorges Damn crushing a Baiji? The hypocrisy of the anti-Japan crowd is pretty breathtaking.
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(´∀｀)つhttp://ansan01.blog121.fc2.com/blog-entry-282.html
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Ok so you can’t read Chinese, but what about Japanese then? The word 救命 has the same meaning in both languages (jap: kyuumei, chn: jiu4ming4) and means life-saving.
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I was referring to the Chinese language article that accompanies the cartoon, which I most certainly cannot read. I also was not going to assume that the kanji 救命 had the exact same meaning in both languages.
Your revelation that it means life-saving in Chinese doesn’t change the general tone of the cartoon. (The bloody impaling of a cute and helpless cartoon dolphin atop the Japanese national flag)
Machine translation of this article suggest that it was a brief summary of The Guardian’s article “Dolphin slaughter turns sea red as Japan hunting season returns” by Justin McCurry, published on 14 Sep. 2009. I don’t know what kind of newpaper it is, so I can say nothing more on that.
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Thats funny, because the Chinese will kill and eat practically anything that isn’t human. And that is a good thing, Chinese food is delicious. More bull testicles, please.
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The dolphin is crying out “Save me!”
救命!
Jiu Ming!
Save Me! (lit. rescue life)
江门新闻网
Jiangmen Xinwen-wang
Jiangmen News Online
It’s quite hypocritical considering China did nothing to save the endangered Baiji dolphin which is listed as extinct in 2007.
There’s also the controversy over Chinese demand for ’shark fin soup’. Sharks are captured, their fins chopped off, and the body thrown back into the waters. Every year, an estimated 100 million sharks are caught.
Hong Kong is speculated to be the hub for up to 80% of the world trade in shark fins.
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The Baiji dolphin in China’s polluted rivers is a terrible case of how humans destroy the habitat of an animal species.
“The baiji, a beautiful slender creature long celebrated in stories along the Chinese river, is gone forever. Everyone knew it was at risk, and much was made of the threat of extinction. Urgent appeals for effective international action were made time and time again. Too late.”
Samuel Turvey’s book is excellent.
http://www.edgeofexistence.org/edgeblog/?cat=10
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Thanks for the book recommendation – just bought a copy for my Kindle. (I’m always happy to see good books available in e-book format.)
The classic metaphor of “blood = sun circle” is a favorite among people who want to present an anti-Japan message, and it looks like it’s appeared yet again.
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Mind you, if they really wanted to be nasty, they could have used the rayed Rising Sun with blood draining away….
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Wait, stop giving them ideas!
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I’d rather suggest to hold a competition for presenting anti-Japan message efficiently. My recommended candidate is that of Australian anti-whaling people’s performance done outside the Japanese consulate in Melbourne.
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That’s quite artistic, at least without the people behind.
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In my opinion, the people behind are more important: Age, gender, ethnicity, and so on, are all irrelevant here, and they are all human at first. And then they feel unity and are all anti-Japan. A great example of successful multiculturalism.
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The Mob as Art? Urgh.
One reason we hate the Other is to increase the solidarity of our own group. Thus by hating on Japan as an abstraction these people can overcome other barriers that might separate them, but remove the external Other and they will just find different Others as each power locus clings to its authority.
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Still an inescapable fact that everyone is draining the oceans of sealife to feed, well, everyone.
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I’m sorry to disappoint you guys but there’s nothing “anti-japanese” in the article…it is just a summary of the Guardian’s article regarding Taiji dolphin hunt. It gives a rough idea about the dolphin meat market and explains that the documentary has attracted many western animal rights activists.
With some patience you can probably find the original article on the Guardian’s website.
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The article itself may not be anti-Japanese, but the cartoon posted along with it can be interpreted as being so, as I’ve pointed out in an earlier comment.
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I was at the market today. Went past a freezer isle. Never seen so much frozen seafood before. They had everything. The last time I ate seafood was once this year. It was a tuna fish melt. Last year I actually ate some shrimp in some pasta. I just don’t see the pull to eat so much seafood.
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There are many chinese medias report the news,and many people have send emails or leave messages to jp goverment. we do think it is a cruel thing.
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I think this would be a very appropriate new flag for Taiji Japan, the home of the dolphins killers who each year slaughter thousands of dolphins in the name of what?..I’ll tell you what..GREED – pure and simple.
Yes indeed a perfect flag for the home of the killers it should be raised at the “cove” and their butcher houses and city hall – although it might be hard to tell one from the other as Taiji is basically a slaughterhouse.
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Those symbols do not mean life saving. It’s easy to look up. get a life and learn what things mean before you say they mean something they don’t. just makes you sound like an idiot. not to be rude just giving advice.
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