If it’s a cultural thing perhaps they should go back to using wooden boats and harpoons.

So they’re using the Israel defense: only people who hate our culture would criticize us.

Of course they’ll stop…..when all the whales are dead.

Well, since the whales dropped bombs on Japan during the war*… surely they deserve to be hunted? :p

*Source: South Park. May or may not be historically accurate.

Sanctions must be brought against Japan then!

It’s whale related when you think of the horse meat scandal, but has anyone seen the documentary “the cove”. Well worth watching. A real eye opener into their fishing industry along with their whaling.

Also, how countries with no coastline get to vote on whaling is nothing short of utter ridiculousness

They kill up to 1000 whales a year, surely there should be a worldwide ban and close the loophole? How hard can it be if everyone knows there is a loophole for the last 10 years + ???

Just because its a culture dosent make it right. It’s a horrific and painful long drawn out death for them which is so wrong. It should be stopped.

Hunt the japanese for research porpoises

Exactly Fred; if whaling is such an important part of their culture you would imagine they would want to pass it on to future generations. Do they not view the whale as endangered? Perhaps Japanese scientists are not as free to express their views as they should be?

It’s not so much the hunting of the whales but the sustainability of it. We cannot farm these animals like we do cows pigs chickens etc and they don’t reproduce at or anywhere near the rate they are being killed

Chicken and cow?! F#@&$€G CHICKEN AND COW?!

soon there may not be many whales to hunt off Antratica anyway – as Krill [ tiny fish ] are at – the bottom of the food chain are being fished to extinction according to a BBC 4 prog last week . The Krill are tiny fish that other fish eat and birds , Penguins , and whales eat them – but now factory farming fishing is threatening them 24/7 for nine months of year in Antatrtica – so not only may Whales disappear – but much of the wildlife in that continent may go too – if the Krill are not Protected .
Ironically Antartica itself is well protected – and as the reporter said on the prog – one may not interfere with a penguins walk – so strict are the laws to protect wildlife in Antartica . Strangely – this protection does not extend to the ocaen around Antartica .
The reporter was in S . Georgia as well – and asked some ” Environmentalisrs ” would they support a 200 mile zone around the Islnds . They refused to answer for some time – wanting time to think ” about it ” . strange behaviuor for ” environmentlaists ” -. It them transpird that the factory boats were giving large sums of money to South Georgia – and the miserable shi#s – despite their ” environmentalism ” were putting job saftey above waht they said they believed in .
Understanable i suppose in these times – but in the end – they are not enviromnentalists – they are hypocrites – and maybe political life might suit them better .

I don’t like the thoughts of whaling and they are a majestic animal. But Japan has a point we draw the line at whales but sanction lifting most other life out of the sea or land. You don’t hear Muslim countries looking for moratoriums on eating pigs or Hindus disgust at the west farming beef. It is their culture, They only thing they should be stopped from hunti.g is anything endangered or threatened otherwise I think its really an emotional decision similar to horse not being a meat of choice in Ireland .. (1/4 pounders excluded of course)

“Hayashi, who took the ministerial post overseeing the country’s whaling programmes in December, said the criticism of the practice is “a cultural attack, a kind of prejudice against Japanese culture”.”

Unfortunately Mr. Hayashi cannot say that about the Japanese people in his country who are fed up of whaling subsidies when they’re hurting and are hosting protests against whaling in downtown Tokyo. Are these Japanese people prejudiced too?

The more these horrible acts that are carried out by the government funded Japanese whalers are highlighted around the world, the better.

In the Whale Sanctuaries they WILL!

Regardless of the actual morality or legality of whaling, I do wish people would put aside the whole “whales are lovely” method of criticising whaling.

I might submit that piggys and moo-cows are just as lovely as whales and while there may indeed be valid points to make when attacking whaling, saying that the animals are aesthetically pleasing or have a pleasant disposition isn’t one of them.

Many cultures think we are savages for killing cows for food but are we going to stop? No, so it’s hypocrisy to ask the Japanese to do likewise.

The practice of the Grind in the Faroe Islands is as barbaric as the cove. I watched a documentary on it a while ago. The islanders also used the defense if you are against it you are against our culture. However in a very ironic twist several of the Faroe Doctors are now speaking out against this ‘healthy’ meat. Whales are at the top of the food chain, travel huge distances and are amassing all the pollutants we dump in the seas. This is making the meat dangerous, and the increasing cancer levels on the islands prove it. Let’s hope the other counties see that the meat is not healthy and stop hunting.

Also, I’m confused & wish to clarify – is Japan killing whales in a WHALE SANCTUARY for “research” purposes, as is plastered all over their whale killing ships, or is it killing whales because it’s part of Japan’s culture? It’s either “research” or it’s culture, it can’t be both! If it’s “research”, the “attack on culture” cloak Japan tries to hide under can be laid to rest. There is no culture in scientific “research”! If it’s culture, why is Japan blatantly trying to hide its proud culture under the guise of “research”? If Japan now wants to claim It is culture then it time to cease exploiting the loophole of the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling. Which is it, Japan, culture or “research”?

Great defense! wasn’t slavery a cultural thing as well? Grow up and stop being petulant children and by that I mean you, the Japanese people. Your hubris of ” saving face ” when called out by the rest of the world is sad and pathetic. To go on doing something just because somebody told you that you shouldn’t is the act of a child.

Is this a similar use of culture in order to carry out an action regardless of circumstances. The last time i recall when this happened, up to 20 million chinese died under the clause of cultural bushido.

It really is time the “culture” & “tradition” cloak that is hidden under got hung in the closet for good or, better yet, burned. This is the same excuse used to justify the dolphin drive hunts in Taiji. However, I’ve yet to come across, in Japan’s rich history, any reference to selling dolphins to aquariums & swim with programmes. This is because that excuse is simply a pathetic joke. The dolphin drive hunts, & for those not familiar please watch the Academy Award-winning documentary “The Cove”, boil down to nothing more than a selfish, heartless love of the almighty ¥. The barbaric slaughter of sentient beings must come to an end! I am a vegetarian, I don’t condone the killing of any being simply for my sustenance – it’s unnecessary, cruel & unhealthy. Our oceans, in particular, are in a perilous state & they & the creatures that reside in them require actions to save them desperately. What is done with the dolphin drive hunts, the whale hunts, the shark finning is barbaric, it’s beyond inhumane & rapidly destroying our lifeline, the ocean, where the majority of our oxygen comes from. It’s truly time for all countries blatantly destroying our oceans to wake up & change direction, NOW!!