Peter Nozawa Thurwachter comments

One thing I never see in these discussions is the subject of pest control. This article centers more on the legality, but to the people who argue that whaling doesn't make economic sense... From a more macro perspective, each ton of minke whale removed from the ocean will free up 10x or more biomass in the ocean, including krill, Saury, herring, etc and other fish that Japanese fishermen want. Sure, Japanese need to dial down their over fishing, but on the same note, Blue whales probably also wish Minke whale populations go down since they compete for the same breeding grounds.

So, I think both sides are talking past each other here. People like Hashimoto and Abe do extend their condolences for Japan's wartime atrocities. However, right wingers have a tremendous problem with the term 'Jyugun' ianfu which was introduced and gained momentum in the early 80s, this makes it sound like the army actively had imperial orders to round up women at gunpoint which would make Japan worse than the the other nations that Japan is pointing a finger at saying the pot is calling the kettle back.

Abe and Hashimoto don't want Japan to be singled out. Now, we all know they are politicians, it's hard to know what they truly believe. However, if people can calm their tempers and admit that at least to date, there are no records of imperial orders to round up women to use as sex slaves (I don't personally know if this is true, but it is what the right side claims, so why not verify this? I think it's very possible that if orders were given, it was a written in a "read in-between the lines" type of way and if there were more direct orders, they could have been burned before the war ended). We can tease out what these politicians truly believe and vote them back into office or vote them out in the next election. By making it more clear what these politicians think, we can see if they truly are in league with the revisionist extremists, or were just arguing a technicality so that they could also get the vote of the extreme right.

Admitting there are no documents of imperial orders is not admitting bad things didn't happen. But I have seen this pattern over and over again in arguments. 1 side will bring up a technicality, then the other side will counter with a personal experience and in this case, right wingers then counter that with a few examples where Japanese soldiers were court marshaled and executed for defying orders not to rape after taking a city to prove official orders were to prove the imperial army's official stance was righteous. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess there were many officers who turned a blind eye. So where does this blame lie? The officers? Where does the buck stop? If you tease this out, there is a danger that the emperor becomes responsible. So you can see why conservatives could have a problem with this.

I would suggest both sides calm down and admit facts. If it is indeed a fact that no records of imperial records exist, fine. (Can one not ask, is it not possible they were burned?). I just think if a debate is made around only the evidence that exists, politicians will end up having to show their true colors, and society can choose who stays in power.

Disillusioned said, -Japan's whale research is based on confirming there are ample stocks to start commercial whaling again (RE: JICR), which will be their undoing in the international court later this year. At present conservationists estimate there are 260,000 Minke whales in the southern hemisphere, but there is no data available on their numbers before whaling commenced 2-300 years ago-

But the link Disillusioned posted said there are 760,000. The Institute of Cetacean Research estimates the numbers are around. 900,000. So it would seem there are more than enough. Considering blue whales and Minke whales compete for the same breeding grounds and Blue whales are still endangered, I think there is an argument to be made for reducing Minke whale numbers. As for toxins in the meat, baleen whales eat stuff lower on the food chain and the Southern Hemisphere has fewer developed nations polluting the air, which settles into the ocean so unlike dolphin meat, it is very clean.

The dirty secret is not that the Japanese love whale meat, but that whaling is a form of pest control. For each ton of whale you remove from the ocean, you free up at least 10x tonnage of fish the whale consumes, and at least 100x tonnage of what ever fish is a level further below that on the food chain. I don't enjoy knowing my human existence on earth is sustained by eating other animals. I am just as sad knowing that my need for fish, indirectly kills whales and robbed Somalians of legit jobs (reducing them to piracy). I still am sad seeing forklifts pushing cows to the slaughter. But I'm not able to become vegan either so the next best thing to do is never throw away food and use every part of the animal. This, I do. I think the Japanese actually have the morale high ground here because they eat the whale. It upsets me when Americans (Alaskans) shoot wolves (endangered in North America) from helicopters, so that they will have more elk to hunt during hunting season. I also don't enjoy seeing more wasteful societies lecturing Japan what they can or can not eat, when those people doing the lecturing are consuming many more times the calories they need to survive. Finally, many anti whaling lobbyists don't even care about the whales. They want to cripple Japan's food (protien)self sufficiency and want to increase beef sales to Japan.

Compared to these people, I prefer the sea shepherds because although violent, at least they are caring. But the clear victim is the whaler and fisherman whose livelihood depends on fishing. And I suppose the whales are also "victims" but so are all the other animals we eat. We all have blood on our hands in that sense. I think my argument is pretty solid.