Japan's appetite for whale meat undiminished by controversy (Feature)

By Takehiko Kambayashi Jun 24, 2010, 9:00 GMT

Tokyo - At a casual joint in downtown Tokyo, customers happily tucked into a variety of whale dishes while half a world away the international community tried to control Japan's 'scientific whaling' drive, which costs the lives of hundreds of whales every year.

The patrons at Hogei-sen, which means whale ship in Japanese, munch away on fried whale or sliced raw whale red meat for 1,360 yen (15 dollars) per serving.

Along with customers' scribbles and photos of television celebrities who visited the eatery, other items posted on the restaurant's wall include menus for whale skin for 1,800 yen; sliced whale tongue, which sets the customer back 1,360 yen; and a whale-meat and vegetable stir-fry for 1,570 yen.

The customers justify their lunch choice, which would have environmentalists and anti-whaling activists around the world up in arms, by arguing that whale meat is rich in protein.

This view is mirrored by the Japan Whaling Association, a Tokyo-based non-profit organization that seeks the lifting of a 24-year ban on commercial whaling. It emphasizes that whale meat is good because of its low fat and high protein content.

One whale-meat fan at Hogei-sen even described it as one of Japan's 'future foods' because the island nation's food self-sufficiency is low.

Like Hogei-sen, a number of restaurants in Tokyo - from elegant ones to casual - serve whale dishes although few Japanese people eat whale meat on a daily basis.

The relative popularity of whale-meat restaurants in Japan seems to show that international criticism against whaling goes largely ignored among those in the whaling business, and the Japanese public seems to be either unaware or little interested in the issue.

Whaling proponents also argue that whaling is part of Japanese culture and foreigners must respect this practice.

In 1987, Japan halted commercial whaling, complying with the international moratorium, which went into effect in 1986. Since then, however, the nation has used a loophole in an international agreement to continue whaling under the premise of doing it for scientific research. Critics, however, have accused the country of conducting its annual hunt for commercial purposes.

A compromise between the pro- and anti-whaling camps was placed before the International Whaling Commission that would allow Japan, Norway and Iceland a small commercial hunt in exchange for cutting down on the number of whales they now kill despite the moratorium.

The commission members, however, failed to reach an agreement on the compromise Wednesday in their meeting in Agadir, Morocco, as the vast majority of them were against lifting the whaling ban.

Meanwhile, in Japan, whale meat not only ends up in the country's restaurants, but companies also sell whale meat on the internet. One of them is Hino Shoten, a Nagasaki-based company that started selling whale meat more than 80 years ago.

They sell not only popular products such as whale bacon, sliced tongue and sliced red meat but also a variety of 'dainty bits,' including gums, kidney, esophagus, stomach, small intestine and sliced testicles.

In its sales pitch, the company stresses its whale meat comes from animals caught in the Antarctic Ocean by Japan's research whaling fleet.

Neither its president nor managers could be reached for comment.

'Hunting whales is just for scientific research,' an official at the Japan Whaling Association stressed. 'Research outcome is submitted to the International Whaling Commission every year, and it is highly valued.'

But that argument is no longer persuasive, said Junichi Sato, an activist with Greenpeace Japan.

'Certainly, Japan cannot persuade the international community when they say their whaling is for scientific research,' Sato said. 'That scientific research has been already the subject of international criticism.'

Many Japanese do not appear to understand that criticism because the domestic media often limits their coverage to anti-whaling groups following and harassing the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic Ocean but does not bring the wider controversy into the picture.

'It is clear that the Japanese public is not interested in the issue while it's certainly true that they have the image that other countries coerce Japan into doing something against 'Japanese culture,'' Sato said. 'It seems it is only the Japanese public who has not been well-informed of the issue and thinks this whaling is scientific.'