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Japanese Lawmakers Feast on Whale

Thu May 9,11:24 AM ET

By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer

 

TOKYO (AP) - Leading Japanese lawmakers savored

whale-meat delicacies at a government-backed blubber

bash Thursday and hundreds of supporters rallied in

downtown Tokyo for the resumption of commercial

whaling.

 

Fishery officials and restaurateurs joined the nearly

four dozen politicians for the evening VIP tasting

party, meant to bolster Japan's pro-whaling push as it

now plays host to the annual meeting of the

International Whaling Commission (news - web sites).

 

Topping the menu: Whale steak, whale stew and whale

sashimi.

 

" It takes patience to make opponents understand

Japan's cultural attachment to whales, " said Kiichi

Inoue, a leader of the Conservative Party and member

of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling

coalition. " And we have to make clear that we are

committed to both whaling and sustaining the

resource. "

 

Earlier in the day, whale-meat aficionados marched

through the streets brandishing billboards that read:

" Protect and Eat! "

 

The festive events came as Japanese officials shrugged

off increasing international pressure and announced

Thursday they have no intention of ending the killing

of whales for research and instead hope to kill more.

 

Japan has come under harsh criticism from the United

States, Australia and other countries for its research

whaling program.

 

Hundreds of whales are killed each year under the

program. Opponents have long claimed it is little more

than a pretext for keeping at least some of Japan's

whaling industry alive despite an international

moratorium on commercial whaling in effect since 1986.

The opponents say Japan's research program is

commercial whaling in disguise because the meat is

sold after the research and most of it ends up in

restaurants.

 

Recently, however, the debate has shifted toward

whether it is necessary to kill the whales for

research, or whether the mammals could be studied

without resorting to lethal methods.

 

The issue has already been raised at the International

Whaling Commission conference, which opened April 25

and runs through May 24 in the southern Japan port of

Shimonoseki, the home port of Japan's research whaling

fleet.

 

" We need to continue both research from sightings and

from hunts, " said Keiichi Nakajima, head of Japan's

delegation to the conference. " We need to do this

regardless of what opponents say. "

 

Japanese officials say lethal research is needed

because whales must be dissected to determine age,

fertility and feeding patterns. They also contend that

studies indicate minke and Bryde's whales are harming

Japan's fishing industry because of their large

consumption of anchovies.

 

As expected, Japan is pushing hard in Shimonoseki to

lift the whaling ban — a stance it hoped to underline

at Thursday's dinner, which sported the theme of

preserving the country's whaling culture.

 

" I want our children to develop a good taste for

whale, " said Hyojun Shimomichi, a whaler's wife from

Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, as she

cleaned an empty stall that served skewered cubes of

whale cutlet.

 

Officials admit, however, they probably do not have

the three-quarters majority needed among the countries

in the commission to end the commercial ban.

 

The United States and 14 other anti-whaling nations on

Thursday condemned Japan's plans to double its

research catch in the northwest Pacific and start

harvesting a species it hasn't hunted in more than two

decades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother's Day is May 12th!

 

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