Gary Humphries to lobby Sister City Nara on behalf of whales

if australia were to be on the losing end of a war with china in the future i imagine visits to our own war memorial would take on a similar flavour.

As for the whales, I like whales, i also like dogs, but I’m not advocating we start a war against korea, china, or vietnam over the issue (also the cute bears in china, or any of the exotic animals you’ll see being sold live for food in a real chinese market). And what GreenPeace and the Humane Society are advocating we do could well be the sort of thing to spark a war.

I’ve got a friend in Iceland. She’s a student, likes all the cool bands, basically your standard post-modern girl like you’d find on any university campus in the western world.

She’s also a mother and the only red meat in iceland she can afford to feed her child is whale.

Try telling her that whales are sacred.

She’ll tell you (as she told me) “They eat all the fish”.

That should be the “Yasukuni” Shrine (not Yakusuni) –
http://www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/

I must point out that the Yakusuni Shrine does not only honour the “Kami”(deities) of Japanese soldiers, but also civilians who died in the service of their country, including 57,000 women and a large number of students.(Particularly during the Second World War).

Approximately 2,500,000 Kami are enshrined there, including 1068 “Martyrs of the Showa” who were ‘unjustly tried by the Allies as war criminals’ following the Pacific War.
This last statement ( found on the Yakusuni Official Website ) speaks volumes about the attitude of the Japanese Government to criticism from other countries about the Shrine, and this mindset can also be found in their policy towards whaling.

Whether we like it or not, Japan is still run by the so-called “traditionalists” who can be traced back to early Japanese society when the country was run by Clans ( such as the Taira, Minamoto, Fujiwara, etc.). These traditionalists don’t see anything wrong with whale hunting, just as they can’t understand why the rest of the world got upset just because the Prime Minister visited the Yakusuni Shrine (a Shinto Shrine to the Japanese war dead ).

Correction in last sentence: Otherwise it is up to anti-whaling groups to put forward a convincing argument as to why whales should be exempt to the exploitation that all other life on the planet suffers from humans.

I do not doubt that the reason why Japan pressed so hard for scientific whaling lies in the political lobbying of far right traditionalists that are so responsible for Japan’s political stagnation. There are some valid reasons such as anaysing fish consumption and mineral content. I do think it is wrong to dress up the desire to eat whale meat in a purely scientific argument.

So you do not support eating fish either? Anything that is not breed especially for food? There is no reason to eat any meat really.

How many extinct species and currently endagered species owe there problems to sheep and beef farming? Why not prohibit cow farming in australia and swtich to higher levels of grain consumption?

If Australia wants to ban whaling from it’s waters I support sending in the RAN when it is legally entitled to it. No problem about that.

As for cultural norms, what is the logic behind associating whaling with cannibalism and rape? If you want to promote the universal right of all animals to be free from human exploitation, then I might support that within reason, but why specifically exempt whales? Why whales that are now (supposedly) at population levels higher than pre-industrial whaling?

If whaling is sustainable, then it should be allowed to occur sustainably. Otherwise it is up to anti-whaling groups as to why whales should be exempt to the exploitation that all other life on the planet suffers from humans.

Hi all, long time reader, and occasional ACC now forced to register. Hi to John and the other riot act memebers who I quite possibly have meet.

Yoroshiku.

The response from the Japanese embassy seems reasonable: it is up to the scientific research and the IWC to determine the levels of permitted whaling. If whale species are not endangered and sustainable whaling can be acheieved then why not?

Of course there must be protocols in place for ensuring only non-endangered species are killed but I would be suprised if this is not the case already.

I am a little surprised that Australia cannot determine what economic ativity happens within its waters, but then again, whithout reading up on it I would assume that either Australia’s claims to the waters in question are not internationally recognised or that there are legal differences between economic zones and national water limits again determined by international accord.

Part of Japan’s argument is that whaling, but more importantly, the eating of whale meat is a cultural practice. The other more substantial part is that if whales can be killed sustainably why shouldn’t you kill them for food.

The Australian argument? They are cute and we like watching them. Now let us get back to watching cute animals and BBQ’ing the not so cute ones.

Are the arguments on this board that whales cannot be killed in a sustainable manner or that no whales should be killed at all?

just becuase something is cultural or traditional does not make it acceptable

hands up anyone who thinks cannabalism is acceptable? but it is still a cultural and traditional practice

As Japans’ argument is about the tradition of eating whale meat, lets permit them to fish whales using traditional techniques of 200 or so years ago.

How ’bout any international permitting of whaling can only occur when the hunters depart Japan in traditional vessels such as row boats/sail boats (without GPS, fish sensors and all the modern goodies) and use traditional fishing methods such as spears and harpoons, they can return to chasing whales in International/Antarctic waters.

I hear Pitcairn Island needs a few new bloodlines over there…