Whaling called "pointless" by Japan government spokesperson
Japan's whaling has never made much sense to me. But then I'm a Greenpeace activist. It's pretty interesting to hear the same sentiment from someone who defended whaling in his role as an official spokesperson.
From today's Sydney Morning Herald:
Tomohiko Taniguchi was the official voice of Japan for the last three years. The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo fronted the international media every day to answer, avoid and argue questions. Of the hundreds of matters he dealt with, the one he dreaded most was defending Japan's whaling program. It was part of his job to defend official policy."I was being summoned by CNN, BBC and ABC on this issue far more than any other issue," Taniguchi says. "I hated this issue because there's no point in Japan sticking to its position," he tells the Herald in flawless English.
Later in the article, Taniguchi gives some advice:
Taniguchi hopes the whaling industry will fade away. Whale meat is not a big seller, an uneconomic activity. About 80 Japanese parliamentarians support whaling, but it is a core issue for only six to eight. With the Government's deficit worsening, the annual subsidy becomes harder to defend. But Taniguchi advises Australia, and others, not to press too hard, lest this only entrench Japanese political support for whaling.
This fits with Greenpeace's own strategy for ending whaling. The front line in our work to end whaling is no longer in Southern Ocean, it's in Japan itself.
Two courageous activists, Junichi and Toru were arrested in Tokyo earlier this year for exposing corruption in Japan's whaling industry. They're both facing potentially years in prison. We're asking whale (and freedom) lovers everywhere to keep the heat on the whaling industry by standing in solidarity with Junichi and Toru. To help, sign our petition saying, "If defending whales is a crime, arrest me."
One of the other factoids from the article:
"The Japanese whaling industry generates revenues of 7.5 billion yen a year, which is $120 million at the current exchange rate. It's tiny."
Japan's economy, the world' second biggest, has an annual output of 515 trillion yen or $8.2 trillion. So whaling accounts for 0.0014 per cent of the national economy. Or less than one-tenth the value of the country's annual market for toothbrushes.
While Taniguchi does say somethings that makes total sense to the average Greenpeace, he does appear to be falling for the old "whales eat fish" argument:
"He cites the point non-baleen whales eat vast quantities of fish "and though it's difficult to prove, this could endanger fish stocks"
By non-Baleen, he means the toothed whales - the sperm whales and the various species of smaller whales and dolphins. Japan has spent years claiming that whales have been impacting fish stocks with no mention of the fact that it's actually humans that are the ones doing the damage!
So, looking out for some whalers-turned-toothbrush salesmen on your doorstep soon...
Read on for more of this article: Sydney Morning Herald: Japan's fading appetite for a fight »:
And while we're at it - here's the true cost of whaling:
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Comments
Greenpeace needs to get back on the water! I agree that pressure needs to be applied in the political arena through lobbying... however, Greenpeace has always been effective at getting media attention on this issue in particular by using direct action technique's. The images of whales being slaughtered and activists placing themselves on the front lines aired all over Europe last year. People where beginning to talk about this issue again. Now is not the time to go soft.
Posted by: erin o'connell | November 20, 2008 5:23 PM
Correction: I originally referred to Mr. Taniguchi as a "former" spokesperson. Turns out he still has the job. So he is a "current" spokesperson.
I've changed the text above to reflect this.
I hear he is leaving his post sometime in the next year, and that may allow him to speak more freely.
Posted by: Andrew | November 24, 2008 10:18 AM
Thanks Green Peace for helping me see the "LIGHT". I nearly participated in the Ship For World Youth, which is sponsored by the Japanese Government which brings together over 200 young people on the Nippon Maru Ship every year from around the world to foster international co-operation, learning and understanding. It would have been a bit hypocritical, in the face of what the Ship For World Youth Programme is about, of me to have accepted my place on this programme knowing that the Japanese Govt continues to go about whaling, and having imprisoned two Green Peace activists who have clearly given evidence that whales are being "harvested" or more like "viciously slaughtered" for their meat. Absolute hypocrisy!
Posted by: Christine McGhee | January 30, 2009 6:30 AM