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Dolphin & Tourists Swim Together in Taiji

Last weeks episode of “Nanikore” went to the town of Taiji in Wakayama prefecture to check out a beach where people can enjoy a swim with a Risso’s Dolphin:

The dolphin is usually kept in an enclosure by the Taiji whale museum/aquarium. However, for two times a day in the summer, they enlarge the enclosure to include a beach area, allowing tourists to get into the water and swim alongside the big dolphin.

Risso’s dolphins are hunted and sold for meat in Japan, and the area in question is internationally-known for its dolphin hunts. That doesn’t seem to bother the tourists. They probably don’t see it as any worse than visiting a petting zoo and interacting with cute pigs, cows, and chickens.

The TV show refers to the area as Higashimuro District, not Taiji. However, the whaling museum shown in the video is the famous Taiji whaling museum, so it’s pretty safe to assume that the beach is also in Taiji. It probably isn’t too far from the location of the spots shown in “The Cove.” If you’ve seen that movie, this kind of beach and the rocky scenery should look familiar.

It probably isn’t the same exact spot, but it does look very similar to the beach on which two animal rights activists were filmed crying at an empty cove. Thanks to some deceptive editing, the final cut of the film made it look like they were watching a baby dolphin die as Japanese fishermen callously chatted in the background.

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35 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - September 16, 2010 at 9:14 am

Categories: Animal Videos Tags:

Vonskippy

“They probably don’t see it as any worse than visiting a petting zoo and interacting with cute pigs, cows, and chickens.”

Is there some Japanese Dolphin farm raising domesticated Dolphins that the rest of the world is unaware of?

If not, then it’s DEFINITELY not the same as interacting with pigs, cows, chickens.

sublight

Ok then, going to an aquarium and interacting with fish.
mg2003

Nope, its definitely not the same. Maybe visiting a petting zoo next to an abattoir?
nagoriyuki

“Pigs and donkeys are domesticated animals, so get out of here you two Piglet and Eeyore! You’re DEFINITELY not the same as us!” said Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger.
http://whatjapanthinks.com Ken Y-N

Vonskippy, you’re looking at it from a Western perspective. I think the Japanese often compartmentalise “petting” and “eating” – I’ve seen similar arguments on how they can see a beautiful shrine but ignore the great big city surrounding it.

Even my mother who grew up on a croft looked after the lambs as pets, but it didn’t bother her that last year’s pet was this week’s lunch.
fh

Because wild animals are never, ever hunted. Ever. /s

How about a comparison between interacting with deer in the parks of Nara, and how some Americans hunt wild deer? How come Flipper gets all the attention, but no one cares about Bambi?

Strawman, etc.

flowby

I think the comparison would be more apt as

“How about interacting with deer in the parks of Nara, and then going around the corner and checking out the meatworks and having a venison burger”.

Keep it local.

http://tepido.org/ LB

You sure that’s “two days during the summer”? They said 「夏の期間１日２回」, which I would interpret as “twice a day (two times each day) during the summer” they let the dolphin out of its enclosure and into the general swimming area.

http://www.japanprobe.com James

hmm, you’re probably right – post corrected.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/254166 Cryptnotic

A far cry from the South Park Dolphin Encounter scene…

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/254166
Tony D

Didn’t anyone teach those people not to play with their food?

fh

It’s no secret that great meat comes from Happy Dolphins.™

Rob A

Taiji: Next Year’s Sushi is This Year’s Best Friend
weirdo

クジラ
Dolphin

So which is it?

Murasaki

うま
http://www.japanprobe.com James

ハナゴンドウ = Grampus griseus

Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) is the only species of dolphin in the genus Grampus…This species weighs 300–500 kilograms (660–1,100 lb) making it the largest species called “dolphin.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risso%27s_Dolphin
amy

I was wondering the same thing. I thought dolphins were usually called iruka. Do they tend to get grouped in with whales?

http://tepido.org/ LB

People seem to be assuming that an animal called a “dolphin” in English will always be called an “iruka” in Japanese, animals called “whales” will always be called “kujira” and vice versa. Languages don’t work that way.

Even in English, “dolphins” and “porpoises” are “toothed whales” by definition – the distinction being the shape of the teeth, but the ones with round teeth are called “dolphins”.

That is, unless they are called “killer whales”, “beluga whales”, “sperm whales” or any of a couple of other types of “whale”.

Or, to give an example from Japanese, “kuma” is “bear”, right? So are “araiguma” and “anaguma” bears that wash and bears that live in holes, respectively?

http://www.japanprobe.com James

When I first heard the name “シロイルカ” (white dolphin) in Japanese, I had clue it referred to Beluga whales.

Another Example: Certain bugs are “Bee” / “Wasp” / “hornet” in English (but sometimes you might just say “bee”), while Japanese places them under various words containing ハチ　or バチ .

And while we’re on a tangent, how about the kanji for dolphin (海豚 = sea + pig ) vs. whale (鯨 = 魚 + 京 = fish + great/might)? Maybe Risso’s dolphins were considered big enough to fall under the “kujira” category.

ita-man

I wonder how “The Cove” guys would react if they see this video?

inb4 OMG THAT DOLPHIN MUST BE SET FREE or shit like that.
TofuUnion

Pigs, Cows, and Chickens are not different from Dolphins or Whales.

A far cry from the meat.org…
http://www.meat.org/

Rob A

“A far cry from the meat.org…”

I was with him until he got to dairy cows. I lived on a dairy farm for many, many years. Our cows were not mistreated, nor were they kept in squalid conditions. We also didn’t keep them ‘constantly pregnant’ to get their milk. That’s just plain false.

If you want people to be on your side of an argument, try the truth Mr. McCartney.
http://tepido.org/ LB

“If slaughterhouses had glass walls….” I’d think I was in a Red Lobster that served land animals.

“Bring me that lamb there, it amuses me.”

Paulo

Sell dolphins to water parks around the world for us $ 150,000.00 is Japanese culture?

Prohibit access, the footage and photos in the cove is Japanese culture? hiding is also Japanese culture? censor the film is also Japanese culture?

Selling dolphin meat as whale meat with toxic levels of mercury to school children is Japanese culture?

Killing whales in Australian Antarctic sanctuary for scientific research is Japanese culture?

Japan, you should be very ashamed …

creepy

I didn’t know dolphins could post a comment on the internet.
LOD

Do we have to repeat all the old debates?

Sell dolphins to water parks around the world for us $ 150,000.00 is Japanese culture?

Erm, what is the problem? Was it too expensive?

Prohibit access, the footage and photos in the cove is Japanese culture? hiding is also Japanese culture?

A few days before the shooting of the film, the Cove staff cut the fishing net, saving a few dolphins. To the Taiji fishermen, this means the staff caused the billion yen loss thanks to their illegal activities. It’s not only Japanese culture, but also universal reaction, for the villagers to be rather defensive if the exactly same activists appeared in the village again, now with a camera.

BTW, hiding IS a part of Japanese culture, if you think of ninja.

Selling dolphin meat as whale meat with toxic levels of mercury to school children is Japanese culture?

http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/05/10/researchers-find-taiji-residents-have-no-mercury-related-health-problems/

Killing whales in Australian Antarctic sanctuary for scientific research is Japanese culture?

So you are saying killing dolphins in Japanese coast is okay? You didn’t sound like that in the previous points.

Anyway, killing whales in the Antarctic for scientific research is perfectly legal, according to IWC. Claiming territorial sovereignty in Antarctic, on the other hand, is to be ignored under the current treaty.

Japan, you should be very ashamed …

For allowing these eco-terrorists’ illegal activities, right?

http://www.giraa2.com Luis Cardona

I do think it is the same “The cove” spot. Look at the tunnel, the stairs…

literacy

Read the name of the tunnel. It’s big enough!
Only the 2 characters on the left are the name; the next 2 just mean “tunnel.”

http://www.opsociety.org/ Kobekid

“It probably isn’t the same exact spot, but it does look very similar to the beach on which two animal rights activists were filmed crying at an empty cove. Thanks to some deceptive editing, the final cut of the film made it look like they were watching a baby dolphin die as Japanese fishermen callously chatted in the background.”

If this is true I’d say you’ve got yourself quite a scoop, “Academy Award wining film caught staging scenes” or some such headline. Got a link to back up this allegation?

http://www.japanprobe.com James

Got a link to back up this allegation?

It’s not a scoop, at least not in Japan. It was reported on an NHK news program. Apparently the fishermen have video that proves it. The same show also revealed the fact that the Cove had falsely claimed Japanese fishery spokesman had been “fired”. It might be somewhere on YouTube, if you search around enough in Japanese.

flowby

Well Goodness me.

Who would have ever thought that people would have the audacity to edit a film to enhance a point in their own favour.

And it might not even be reflecting reality.

Wouldn’t happen here in Japan would it? LOL

I wonder why certain media yesterday chose to show a scowling Kan photo instead of a beaming joyous Kan? Manipulation is the daily staff of life in media – documentaries not withstanding.

http://www.opsociety.org/ Kobekid

the fact that the fishery spokesman (his name is Morinuki) was not fired but transferred has been confirmed, the movie got that wrong. But if all you’ve got is the fisherman’s word or video on this scene being staged then why hasn’t this been more widely reported? Again that would be a big story, an international story . And I saw the Close-up Gendai segment with the fisherman making this claim. No one from OPS was invited on the show to counter what the fisherman’s accusation. This is an unsubstantiated accusation until the fisherman push this in the press outside Japan and the friendly confines of NHK studios.

http://www.japanprobe.com James

that would be a big story, an international story .

I honestly don’t think it would be. Documentary filmmakers routinely take certain creative decisions. I believe that Michael Moore has “staged” scenes for dramatic effect in his documentaries, and he also won an Oscar. The only people who seem to care about it are people who opposed him in the first place.

Looking over that scene from “The Cove”, it seems quite fishy that the camera never pans to show them actually looking at the dolphin. That, and the fact that the fishermen don’t seem to trying to block them, seems like pretty strong support for the allegations. I don’t doubt that those two people really did cry when they saw dolphins dying, but maybe they just didn’t have the cameras properly set up to film the crying when it actually happened.

http://www.japan-zone.com Mark McBennett

The photos above were taken at “the cove,” the exact same spot as featured in the movie. I visited there with my family during the summer and we swam in that same spot. This is where the dolphins are usually separated for live capture and sale to the aquariums. The slaughter happens around the corner.

As for the “staged” scenes, I also saw the NHK panel discussion (Close Up Gendai). They repeated the claim several times but, in typical NHK fashion, were very careful to say that these were “allegations” rather than facts and that the scenes “may” have been staged. But of course, mud sticks.
変態な痴漢

美味しそう！

Dolphin & Tourists Swim Together in Taiji

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