Taiji justifies..

of course Wakayama prefecture and the Taiji fishermen association would justify their “tradition” to embrace Japanese “food culture” and people in Taiji have been hunting dolphins and whales as vital sources of nutrients since the town has limited resources. According to them, this practice has been going on for 400 years. There are many inaccuracies in their statement and although they continue to claim that they are just following their tradition and are embracing Japanese food culture, the facts remain the truth remains contrary to their claims. They do not release small dolphins..then what happened to the albino angel dolphin? She was forcefully kidnapped from her mother! and Baby dolphins returned to the ocean are not going to survive without their protectors. So they are claiming only 100 were either taken or killed for food and then 400 dolphins were release. But much more dolphins must have been killed in order to turn the water in the cove turn that red so immediately and what is becoming more obvious is that this is not about embracing Japanese food culture. First of all, we do not eat whale or dolphin meat and dolphin meat is especially unheard of! but interestingly these fishermen started to do more aggressive dolphin hunting on a larger scale starting in 1960s when entertainment industry such as marine parks started to use dolphins for shows. And I believe that people had to eat whatever available in order to survive during the war and in the post war ear, resources remain limited so they must have eaten dolphins, however tradition will be revised and shifted according to the ethics and what angers the rest of the world is the blatant lie they make! This isn’t about the food culture..this is about profit! One dolphin can be sold for $100,000 to aquariums and marine parks. If you sell then, it’s 1 million dollars. Now we start to see a much clearer picture of what’s really going on here. We are entitled to our own opinions and mine is that Japanese government should ban the dolphin drive hunting. Arguing that westerners kill cows, pigs and chickens is not a good way to deal with this issue. I don’t know why it is ok to kill cow but not dolphins but it is NOT ok because Japanese fishermen are basically capturing dolphins for the show! It’s got nothing to do with the food culture. Do not lie. Be honest and be exemplary. Japan, you can do it.

Of course Wakayaka prefecture, which is basically the state authorizing infamous dolphin drive hunting in taiji. Wakayama governor isn’t going to stay quiet after the documentary “the cove” received major media coverage. According to sources, union leaders of the Taiji fishermen’s cooperative association refute the international accusations against Taiji’s dolphin drive hunting which takes place annually. They claim that only 24 fishermen actually do the dolphin drive hunting but the rest of the fishermen are simply assisting these people hunt dolphins successfully and they are just making a living. I totally understand that.

And their excuses continue..they don’t have river or plains in Taiji so historically Japanese people in Taiji had no choice but to eat whale and dolphin meat. Restaurants have whale meat and dolphin meat was eaten as sashimi (raw) or use dolphin meat for sukiyaki. Whale and dolphin meat has been vital sources of nutritions for people in Taiji. But since the documentary, “the cove” was published in 2009, people started to turn this dolphin drive hunting with a history of about 400 years since the Edo era into something run by the Japanese mafia. This critically acclaimed documentary has damaged the reputation of this small town and foreigners who belong to the anti-whaling organization have become prominent in the town, and once the dolphin hunting starts on September 1st, the atmosphere in tow becomes even more tense.

About 500 dolphins were driven into the cove on this date and selection process is carried out in the cove, and fishermen release small dolphins and if they could identity the parent-child dolphins, they are both returned to the ocean. So about 400 dolphins are released from the cove and the remaining dolphins are taken to the aquarium, and the rest was processed for human consumption.

This is what Wakayama prefecture says to justify their “traditional” dolphin drive hunting. Kennedy ambassador released a statement condemning the inhumane practice against dolphins but Chief Cabinet Secretary Sugayoshi Hide also says,”Japanese people have always humbly cherished the limited resources” But the anti-whaling organization is using American celebrities to further promote anti-drive hunting. According to the Taiji fisheries cooperative, they are allowed to establish a voluntary approach in processing the dolphin meat. Japan has further limit the number of dolphins which can be captured by the end of April. There is a memorial monument of whales and dolphins and they do pray for them in the park.

Therefore the head of this town wants to continue to protect this traditional practice.