(JP)`Whale culture' campaign takes various forms in Shimonoseki

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http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2002052400423.html

 

`Whale culture' campaign takes various forms in

Shimonoseki

 

By JUN SAITO, The Asahi Shimbun

 

SHIMONOSEKI-Outside the raging debate at the

International Whaling Commission (IWC) session here,

Japanese and some curious foreigners scan the products

offered for sale at a small stall.

 

Up for grabs are 300-gram packs of raw whale meat,

part of Shimonoseki's efforts to show the world that

whaling is part of Japanese culture.

 

``Whaling in Japan has a long history and is so much

part of our culture,'' said Takashige Noda, one of the

stall's managers. ``I'd be happy if we could convey

our feelings about whales to people opposed to

whaling.''

 

Noda and his pro-whaling group are also trying to win

support for their argument that whales are a

sustainable marine creature.

 

The group has sold more than 700 of the 1,000-yen

packs from the stall at Kaikyo Messe, where the

five-day IWC general meeting is being held.

 

Many others in the city have embarked on pro-whaling

campaigns.

 

City government officials, hoping to promote

whale-meat consumption among younger generations,

began including whale meat in school lunches for

school students about four years ago.

 

About one month before the IWC general meeting, a

3-meter-high bronze statue of a blue whale was erected

in front of a city aquarium. It bears the inscription,

``kujira-san arigato'' (Thank you, whales).

 

The pro-whaling organization Shimonoseki Group for

Whale Diet Preservation raised the statue through

collections from residents.

 

Group members argue that the historical link between

Japan and marine products makes Japanese people

sensitive to the need to conserve marine resources.

 

But Mitsuhiro Kishimoto, a city official and co-author

of the book ``Shimonoseki Kujira Monogatari'' (A

Shimonoseki Whale History), said the cultural aspect

of whaling is in danger of being lost.

 

``Unfortunately, the word `whale' has failed to become

a key word to describe our cultural characteristics

because whaling has lost its power,'' said Kishimoto,

whose master's degree thesis from Shimonoseki City

University detailed the city's whaling history.

 

In the 1960s, about 20,000 tons of whale were caught

annually at Shimonoseki port-about 20 percent of all

catches nationwide. But the industry fell apart after

the 1982 moratorium banning commercial whaling,

Kishimoto said.

 

``It's necessary to find some way to resume whaling to

preserve it as part of our culture. Expansion of

Japan's research whaling is one option,'' Kishimoto

said.(IHT/Asahi: May 24,2002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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