Alienation of citizens against the gov't/ bureaucrats & fisheries in Japan
- "official" announcements do not represent what people think
A well-known weekly magazine in Japan specialised in economic and social issues called "Weekly Diamond" has an interesting article on its latest printed issue (27/03/10) about ordinary -supposedly- peoples feeling towards whaling [and dolphin hunting]. (The magazines website, having no English pages, is http://diamond.jp/)
500 adult men & women (m:285, f:215) replied to such questions with respective answers as;
How often do you eat whale meat annually?
never(zero): 63.4%
once or twice: 20.0%
Do you feel annoyed or inconvenient if
whale meat becomes unavailable?
No: 82.4% (Yes: the remainder)
Are you for or against the Japanese to
eat whale meat?
Positive For: 31.0%,
Passive For(Don't mind eating): 27.0%
Don't care/ Don't know: 31.0%
Against: 8.6%
Strongly against: 2.4%
Are you for or against the Sea Shepherd
taking actions in the Antarctic Sea
against the Japanese whaling fleet?
For: 0.8%
Against: 89.6% (The remainder: no answer)
* Are you for or against hunting dolphins
(and small toothed whales)?
For: 25.8%
Against: 38.8% (The remainder: no answer)
So, majority of people in Japan do no eat whale meat, have little compassion toward whaling but yet do not support violence against what they do not really care about.
Also, they are against dolphin hunting.
I cannot but feel pathetic for officials working at Japan's Fishery Agency and fishery cooperatives as well as politicians concerned finding rationales
for whaling and dolphin hunting in vain.
Notwithstanding Japanese media's sabotage not to let people in Japan know sufficiently about facts and figures of whaling and dolphin hunting, the press representing governmental/non-governmental groups will hopefully make real "culprits" stop irrational and unsustainable exploitation of the nature.
Recently retired man's shoes' have been made and utilised under the idea of 'We shall follow Master Rising Sun'(Oyakata Hinomaru)
Dear Chris,
Your story along with another one - Dead whales and Retired men's shoes - was so interesting, especially the description about Japan's bureaucrats was superb.
In addition to your indication of 'amakudari', annual budget of about 500 mil. yen (approx. ￡3.5 mil.) has been subsidised for scientific whaling from the taxpayers money.
Japan's Fishery Agency entrust a company called Kyodo Sempaku - a fishery that consists of former whalers of the last century - to operate the whaling eventually to the whole-selling of whale meat. Researchers at the Institute of Cetacean Research are to carry out lethal research of whales also subsidised by the agency - happy are those scientists, dedicating themselves in creating papers for the agency and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, who would otherwise remain jobless.
That said, a part of your story that goes like; 'Japan is systematically undermining and then gutting not just the world's fish stocks, but every marine regulatory convention that may affect its ability to buy and bully its way through the world's oceans.' doesn't really ring my bell.
I'd be grateful if you'd present some evidence/ episode behind it.
Kind Regards,
Toshi
Dear Toshi,
My apologies for the delay, but I'll respond to this as soon as able. Thank you for your posting and very interesting thoughts
best wishes
Chris