By Maxime Polleri
December 10, 2024
THE DIPLOMAT
In this image provided by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, an adult and sub-adult Fin whale are dragged aboard the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling vessel, Feb. 6, 2008.Credit: Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
In the upcoming days, anti-whaling activist Paul Watson will learn if he is to be extradited to Japan, where he could face a 15-year prison sentence for disrupting the Japanese whaling industry. Based on a 2012 Interpol arrest warrant issued by Japan, Watson was apprehended by the Danish authorities in July 2024. He is currently detained in a prison in Greenland; the court recently extended his detention until December 18 as it considers Japan’s extradition request. The Japanese government accused Watson of having caused damage to a whaling ship in 2010 in the Antarctic, as well as having injured a crew member with a stink bomb.
Despite worldwide consensus opposing whale hunting, as well as international support for Watson’s cause, Japan keeps pushing for his extradition. Moreover, the country shows no signs of halting its whaling industry. On the contrary, Japan even launched a brand-new whaling ship, the Kangei Maru, which will be able to process a vast quantity of whale meat.
To defend this position, Japan argues that whaling is part of its history and culture, while stressing industry needs and food security. Yet, behind Watson’s arrest lies a broader concern that has less to do with embedded cultural tradition and more to do with making a statement about Japan’s maritime sovereignty.
But first, let us examine the typical arguments that are put in favor of whaling in Japan.
History and Culture
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that Japan has an immemorial history of whaling, ranging back as far as 2,000 years, when people along the coasts of Japan organized hunts of large whales. However, academic sources like the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan demonstrate that whaling has, in fact, a much more recent history, only becoming a small organized industry in the early 17th century.
Moreover, whaling in Japan was never a full-scale industry as economically important as it was in the West. Because of the sakoku, the isolationist foreign policy of feudal Japan that limited international trade, Japanese whalers were limited to whaling near coastal waters, which drastically limited the number of catches. As the Empire of Japan grew during the modernization of the country, Japan began to fish elsewhere, such as near Taiwan, but it was only in 1934 that Japan’s first factory whaling ship reached the Antarctic.
In contrast to these small-scale activities, the mass hunting of whales truly emerged after World War II, with the impetus of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur. Overseeing the occupation of Japan, MacArthur encouraged the conversion of U.S. Navy tankers for whaling to tackle food shortages after the war. Yet, by the 1960s, whale meat was already declining due to stringent regulations by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). A 1986 moratorium on hunts in international waters further curbed Japan’s whaling industry. The country subsequently withdrew from the IWC, but continues to hunt whales within its territorial sea and its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
While Japan has an undeniable culture surrounding seafood, perhaps best exemplified by the national and international popularity of sushi, the current generation of Japanese people do not show much interest in whale meat. Indeed, polls on Japanese whaling demonstrate that a majority of Japanese have never actually eaten whale meat or do so quite rarely.
During my many research trips to Japan, I have never met a Japanese who had eaten sarashikujira, a dish made of whale tail fin, much less heard about matsuurazuke, which is whale nasal cartilage touted as a delicacy. While praised as part of Japanese culture, whale consumption is far removed from the daily life of many Japanese citizens, as opposed to the consumption of more traditional foodstuff, like rice, miso soup, or bluefin tuna.
Economic and Food Security
The Japanese state also defends the whaling industry as having significant socioeconomic importance. However, commercial whaling is far from profitable. Indeed, Japan’s whaling industry operates at a loss and only survives via generous government subsidies, which inject millions of dollars annually to sustain its fishermen.
Moreover, the whaling industry drastically clashes with the image of “Cool Japan,” a national strategy enacted since 2013 to promote Japanese food and culture on an international level. While tourism has increased abundantly in the last decades, becoming a priority in Japan’s economic growth strategy, few foreign tourists show interest in the consumption of whale meat. Whale products are thus far from being an economic driving force both within or outside the country.
After World War II, Japan faced a dire food crisis and partly resorted to whaling to provide a supplementary source of animal protein. Nowadays, for a country that is the fourth largest economy in the world and that rank sixth in the Global Food Security Index, the argument that whales are an important food resource is simply untrue, especially when one also looks at the domestic consumption, which is negligible. In fact, while whale meat used to be a vital source of protein in the post-war era, today its consumption is mostly a luxury experience, a delicacy that one enjoys in a fine restaurant and that often reaches high prices in Japanese auctions.
Maritime Sovereignty
With the former arguments appearing unconvincing, what is truly at stake in Japan’s whaling industry? It’s not cultural traditions; instead, whaling is a strong affirmation of the country’s authority within its own EEZ. For Japanese political elites, any restriction on their maritime activities – even one as economically small as whaling – is simply unfathomable, especially for an island country that has long depended on a range of sea resources for its survival and prosperity.
To better understand this mentality, it is important to acknowledge the fact that Japanese elites have historically held strong views on the “island-nation theory” (shimaguni-ron), a trope that depicts Japan as a culturally unique land that struggles for resource security, often due to a lack of land. This idea has always been part of the state’s vision, resulting in the belief that national territory must be defended at all cost.
Since the end of World War II, Japan’s maritime sovereignty has constantly been weakened, while still being under threat. For instance, Japan’s fishing industries faced hard times following international regulations, as well as the creation of EEZs. The rise of a militaristic China has also fueled territorial disputes over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, a contested chain of islands between China and Japan that are situated in the southern part of the archipelago. More recently, Japan’s decision to release treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has created geopolitical tensions with its Asian neighbors, most notably South Korea and China. Different bans on fish exports have occurred since the 2011 nuclear disaster, leading to a drastic decrease of Japanese products, as well as renewed tensions regarding maritime control in the Pacific Sea.
Within this context, letting go of whaling risks being seen as a concession on the maritime territoriality of Japan, which has been facing mounting challenges since the 20th century. If whaling goes out the door, the Japanese state might fear a domino effect regarding further compromise within its EEZ.
By clinging to whaling, as unpopular as it may be worldwide, Japanese political elites are strongly reaffirming their authority to manage their maritime zone without interference from other nation states. For a country like Japan, an island nation with little territory and long-held tropes about the value of its seas, adopting measures that would limit maritime rights is simply unthinkable. For these reasons, it is doubtful that the Japanese will stop whaling, imbricated as it is within tense discussions of maritime sovereignty.
You have read 1 of your 4 free articles this month.
Guest Author
Maxime Polleri
Maxime Polleri is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Université Laval, in Quebec City, Canada. As an anthropologist, he studies the governance of nuclear catastrophes, with a focus on the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Polleri is also a Network Affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, where he was previously a MacArthur Nuclear Security fellow. He is also a member of MITATE Lab, an international research program on Fukushima issues.
In this image provided by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, an adult and sub-adult Fin whale are dragged aboard the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling vessel, Feb. 6, 2008.Credit: Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
In the upcoming days, anti-whaling activist Paul Watson will learn if he is to be extradited to Japan, where he could face a 15-year prison sentence for disrupting the Japanese whaling industry. Based on a 2012 Interpol arrest warrant issued by Japan, Watson was apprehended by the Danish authorities in July 2024. He is currently detained in a prison in Greenland; the court recently extended his detention until December 18 as it considers Japan’s extradition request. The Japanese government accused Watson of having caused damage to a whaling ship in 2010 in the Antarctic, as well as having injured a crew member with a stink bomb.
Despite worldwide consensus opposing whale hunting, as well as international support for Watson’s cause, Japan keeps pushing for his extradition. Moreover, the country shows no signs of halting its whaling industry. On the contrary, Japan even launched a brand-new whaling ship, the Kangei Maru, which will be able to process a vast quantity of whale meat.
To defend this position, Japan argues that whaling is part of its history and culture, while stressing industry needs and food security. Yet, behind Watson’s arrest lies a broader concern that has less to do with embedded cultural tradition and more to do with making a statement about Japan’s maritime sovereignty.
But first, let us examine the typical arguments that are put in favor of whaling in Japan.
History and Culture
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that Japan has an immemorial history of whaling, ranging back as far as 2,000 years, when people along the coasts of Japan organized hunts of large whales. However, academic sources like the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan demonstrate that whaling has, in fact, a much more recent history, only becoming a small organized industry in the early 17th century.
Moreover, whaling in Japan was never a full-scale industry as economically important as it was in the West. Because of the sakoku, the isolationist foreign policy of feudal Japan that limited international trade, Japanese whalers were limited to whaling near coastal waters, which drastically limited the number of catches. As the Empire of Japan grew during the modernization of the country, Japan began to fish elsewhere, such as near Taiwan, but it was only in 1934 that Japan’s first factory whaling ship reached the Antarctic.
In contrast to these small-scale activities, the mass hunting of whales truly emerged after World War II, with the impetus of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur. Overseeing the occupation of Japan, MacArthur encouraged the conversion of U.S. Navy tankers for whaling to tackle food shortages after the war. Yet, by the 1960s, whale meat was already declining due to stringent regulations by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). A 1986 moratorium on hunts in international waters further curbed Japan’s whaling industry. The country subsequently withdrew from the IWC, but continues to hunt whales within its territorial sea and its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
While Japan has an undeniable culture surrounding seafood, perhaps best exemplified by the national and international popularity of sushi, the current generation of Japanese people do not show much interest in whale meat. Indeed, polls on Japanese whaling demonstrate that a majority of Japanese have never actually eaten whale meat or do so quite rarely.
During my many research trips to Japan, I have never met a Japanese who had eaten sarashikujira, a dish made of whale tail fin, much less heard about matsuurazuke, which is whale nasal cartilage touted as a delicacy. While praised as part of Japanese culture, whale consumption is far removed from the daily life of many Japanese citizens, as opposed to the consumption of more traditional foodstuff, like rice, miso soup, or bluefin tuna.
Economic and Food Security
The Japanese state also defends the whaling industry as having significant socioeconomic importance. However, commercial whaling is far from profitable. Indeed, Japan’s whaling industry operates at a loss and only survives via generous government subsidies, which inject millions of dollars annually to sustain its fishermen.
Moreover, the whaling industry drastically clashes with the image of “Cool Japan,” a national strategy enacted since 2013 to promote Japanese food and culture on an international level. While tourism has increased abundantly in the last decades, becoming a priority in Japan’s economic growth strategy, few foreign tourists show interest in the consumption of whale meat. Whale products are thus far from being an economic driving force both within or outside the country.
After World War II, Japan faced a dire food crisis and partly resorted to whaling to provide a supplementary source of animal protein. Nowadays, for a country that is the fourth largest economy in the world and that rank sixth in the Global Food Security Index, the argument that whales are an important food resource is simply untrue, especially when one also looks at the domestic consumption, which is negligible. In fact, while whale meat used to be a vital source of protein in the post-war era, today its consumption is mostly a luxury experience, a delicacy that one enjoys in a fine restaurant and that often reaches high prices in Japanese auctions.
Maritime Sovereignty
With the former arguments appearing unconvincing, what is truly at stake in Japan’s whaling industry? It’s not cultural traditions; instead, whaling is a strong affirmation of the country’s authority within its own EEZ. For Japanese political elites, any restriction on their maritime activities – even one as economically small as whaling – is simply unfathomable, especially for an island country that has long depended on a range of sea resources for its survival and prosperity.
To better understand this mentality, it is important to acknowledge the fact that Japanese elites have historically held strong views on the “island-nation theory” (shimaguni-ron), a trope that depicts Japan as a culturally unique land that struggles for resource security, often due to a lack of land. This idea has always been part of the state’s vision, resulting in the belief that national territory must be defended at all cost.
Since the end of World War II, Japan’s maritime sovereignty has constantly been weakened, while still being under threat. For instance, Japan’s fishing industries faced hard times following international regulations, as well as the creation of EEZs. The rise of a militaristic China has also fueled territorial disputes over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, a contested chain of islands between China and Japan that are situated in the southern part of the archipelago. More recently, Japan’s decision to release treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has created geopolitical tensions with its Asian neighbors, most notably South Korea and China. Different bans on fish exports have occurred since the 2011 nuclear disaster, leading to a drastic decrease of Japanese products, as well as renewed tensions regarding maritime control in the Pacific Sea.
Within this context, letting go of whaling risks being seen as a concession on the maritime territoriality of Japan, which has been facing mounting challenges since the 20th century. If whaling goes out the door, the Japanese state might fear a domino effect regarding further compromise within its EEZ.
By clinging to whaling, as unpopular as it may be worldwide, Japanese political elites are strongly reaffirming their authority to manage their maritime zone without interference from other nation states. For a country like Japan, an island nation with little territory and long-held tropes about the value of its seas, adopting measures that would limit maritime rights is simply unthinkable. For these reasons, it is doubtful that the Japanese will stop whaling, imbricated as it is within tense discussions of maritime sovereignty.
You have read 1 of your 4 free articles this month.
Guest Author
Maxime Polleri
Maxime Polleri is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Université Laval, in Quebec City, Canada. As an anthropologist, he studies the governance of nuclear catastrophes, with a focus on the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Polleri is also a Network Affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, where he was previously a MacArthur Nuclear Security fellow. He is also a member of MITATE Lab, an international research program on Fukushima issues.
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