Archive for February, 2011

Violent Activism Causes Temporary Suspension of Whaling

Japan’s whaling fleet has temporarily halted its activities, apparently because of the violent and dangerous tactics used by Sea Shepherd:

“Putting safety as a priority, the fleet has halted scientific whaling for now. We are currently considering what to do hereafter,” said Tatsuya Nakaoku, an official at the Fisheries Agency.

When asked if Japan was considering bringing back the fleet earlier than planned, he said this remained an option and added that Japan’s whaling plans were not going smoothly.

Sea Shepherd had been using their usual tactics of maneuvering their boats dangerously close to whaling ships while throwing bottles of acid at the whalers. They also tried to use ropes to damage the screws of whaling ships.

The halt may actually be caused by Sea Shepherd, or it could have have another reason. Here are three possibilities:

• By halting the hunt for a year or two, it could kill Sea Shepherd’s sensational reality TV show. Without crazy new video footage of “activists” attacking Japanese ships, donations to Sea Shepherd would decrease.
• Japan has been pushing for the IWC to allow limited coastal whaling in Japanese territorial waters. Japanese representatives have made statements implying that Japan would reduce or cancel its Antarctic program if the coastal whaling program was approved. By preemptively halting its Antarctic hunt, Japan could be trying to improve its chances of being allowed to conduct coastal hunts.
• The whalers could be attempting to gain sympathy from the Japanese public, which could lead to an increase in government support for the whaling program.

Here’s a news report about this story from Japan’s TBS:

They talk to a chef who runs a restaurant in Asakusa that specializes in whale meat. He is outraged that the whaling program seems to have given up because of Sea Shepherd’s attacks.

An official says that existing stockpiles of whale meat should last through this year and next year. If the next hunt is able to take place, there probably shouldn’t be any major impact on the price of whale meat.

Yoshimasa Hayashi of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party is shown criticizing the decision to halt the hunt. He does not think that it is right to cave in to the demands of law-breaking activists who behave like pirates.

A few selected comments from Reddit:

A few points about the whaling:

• The whaling takes place in International waters. The “Australian Whale Sanctuary” is recognised only by Australia and New Zealand — Internationally recognised national borders extend nowhere near this. The “Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary” is an area defined by the IWC, and no commercial whaling is allowed there by agreement — although whaling for scientific research is allowed (see below).
• The whaling is not illegal by any measure of the word. The IWC passed a moratorium banning commercial whaling in 1986, but they specifically allowed whaling for scientific purposes to continue.
• They purposefully did not define what “scientific” meant so as to allow countries (like Japan) to continue Whaling. It also allows the selling of meat gained through this method. Without this ‘loophole’, the moratorium never would have passed since it didn’t have the support.
• Passing a moratorium with the ‘loophole’ had many practical benefits. It allowed a wide-reaching ban on commercial whaling to come into effect while setting strict limitations on what the whaling countries were allowed to catch — that’s the quota mentioned in the articles. Before the moratorium, Japanese whaling was roughly ten-fold higher, so its hard to argue against this.

“On the current situation:

• What the protest vessels are doing is not only incredibly dangerous, but it is downright illegal. Attacking a ship in international waters, or forcibly boarding one, are amoung the most serious offences in maritime law.
• Throwing ropes under a ship in order to foul a propeller is equally serious. They’re attempting to disable a ship in one of the most dangerous environments on Earth.
• One of the protest vessels has large metal blade on the side (which they call the ‘can opener’) which is designed to cut into a ship when they side-swipe it. That’s not exactly the hallmark of peaceful law-abiding protesters.

I could go on but the point I’m trying to make is that the Japanese, regardless of whether their actions are morally reprehensible or not, are acting legally, whereas the protest vessels are not. We shouldn’t be supporting a group of vigilantes sailing down with the express purpose of attacking law-abiding vessels in international waters.

As a side note, if they were attacking oil vessels in the gulf they’d be called terrorists.” – nambio

“I am a licensed merchant mariner and spend most of my year being at sea. Let me enlighten you on the tactics used of sea shepard. They knowingly and willing ram other vessels, intentionally try to disable their propulsion or steering, board other vessels and storm their bridge. But what they are doing can kill people. It is only by sheer luck they have not done so yet.

If planned parenthood workers had chains thrown at their tires, and their cars were rammed in an effort to impede them from getting to work we would not call it non-violent protest as long as no one died. It is malicious acts that put human life at extreme risks in order to justify a belief.

I dont care if someone is for or against whaling; some deck hand is not responsible for that decision, and he or she should not receive capital punishment for a perceived crime that a vigilante feels they committed.” – zackatzert

“As a Norwegian I eat both Minke whale and pork, and the pork gives me the bigger moral qualms. Yes, really.

Not only is the Minke whale probably less advanced in the cognitive department – as least as far as we know – but it also lived a free and natural life roaming the seas until its unlikely capture, while the pig suffered for its whole life in some cramped confinement as a slave of the agro-industry before being killed with no chance of escape.” – zap

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Idiots Ride Bicycles in the Snow

FTV took to the streets of Tokyo after the recent snow storm to film idiots riding bicycles on slippery roads:

They show the scene of an accident, where a woman riding downhill on a bicycle slipped and fell over, throwing her 5-year-old child into the path of an automobile. The kid had been riding in a child seat without the belt buckled, and was wearing no helmet. Thankfully, she survived with only minor injuries.

FTV had no trouble finding other idiotic mothers who were riding around with small un-helmeted children.

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Domino’s Pizza – Still Ridiculously Expensive in Japan

A TV news report discusses a special deal being offered by Domino’s Pizza Japan:

The offer is only available to customers who use Domino’s Japan’s English language homepage to order their pizzas online. Apparently if you order one “Brooklyn Pizza,” you will get another one for free. The pizza costs 2,500 yen. English-speaking customers from the United States sure must be thrilled to pay the equivalent of $30 for two “L” sized pizzas that probably wouldn’t even pass for mediums in the United States (and only as a limited time offer!).

My most recent experience with Domino’s Japan: Website said it would take 30 to 40 minutes to get my pizza. It took over an hour, and the pizza and chicken were cold by the time they got here. I was given a measley “500-yen off” coupon to make up for their extreme lateness.

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Build Your Own Robot

DeAgostini Japan’s latest hobby project is Robo Xero, a cool build-it-yourself robot kit:

Like previous projects such as the samurai armor and aircraft carrier kits, it is sold as weekly packages that provide parts and instructions for each stage of construction. This robot is apparently sold as 70 kits, each with a retail price of 1,990 yen. Robots are not cheap.

Apparently it will also include software that helps you program customized movements of the robot. In the commercial, they even show the robot writing with a brush!

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Deer Chew on Chains in Nara

Something strange is going on in Nara. Among the deer that live in Nara Park, several seem to enjoy chewing on metal chains near the Great South Gate of Todai-ji Temple:

Over 1,000 deer live in Nara Park, but only about ten of them like to chew chains. The deer have been seen doing it for quite a few years. Nobody’s quite sure why the deer do it, but some guess that the deer are feeling bored and do it because it feels good. Perhaps one deer did it as an experiment, and the other deer mimicked its behavior?

Below are a couple examples of chain-chewing videos filmed by tourists and uploaded to Youtube:

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Wasao – the Cute & Ugly Dog

The National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan has given the status of special ambassador for World Heritage-related activities to a dog. The dog, an Akita named Wasao, is known throughout Japan for being weirdly cute:

The ceremony for Wasao, a big white furry Akita with squint eyes known as “busa (ugly) kawa (cute)” was held at a Tokyo cinema where the movie “Wasao” which features the dog was screened at a preview.

Noboru Noguchi, director general of the federation, told the ceremony, “We hope (Wasao) will be more active as a special ambassador who can promote the connection between people and nature, as well as the importance of life.”

A trailer for the Wasao movie:

And a few random videos of Wasao:

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