tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153915594214885101.post9045993168134849048..comments2024-01-13T05:24:01.888-08:00Comments on Oceanic Defense: Japanese Activists' Voices Grow Louder - Part IIOceanic Defensehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403205450844244507noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153915594214885101.post-52853089245520465682010-11-22T04:48:35.027-08:002010-11-22T04:48:35.027-08:00It's only available in English!
I hope we can ...It's only available in English!<br />I hope we can get it translated into Japanese so the Japanese people will know what their government is up to.<br /><br />http://books.google.com/books?id=6Rid73dnTmgCUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03833765885352741598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153915594214885101.post-48164119933688684302010-11-09T08:57:22.605-08:002010-11-09T08:57:22.605-08:00Agreed. Translating "Whaling in Japan" i...Agreed. Translating "Whaling in Japan" into English sounds like an excellent project. Please keep us posted. Thanks, SamanthaTropical Selkiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14418161372091039003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153915594214885101.post-84331278430754448322010-11-09T02:00:46.700-08:002010-11-09T02:00:46.700-08:00It has been pointed out that I hadn't read the...It has been pointed out that I hadn't read the article properly. Guilty as charged. m(_ _)m<br /><br />Disappointingly, a re-reading of "the crowd of 175+ in a raucous chant of "SHAME" in Japanese!" confirmed my impression that confrontation is considered not only acceptable but commendable. I cannot agree. <br /><br />While agreeing totally with your objectives, I am disappointed in your information. E.g. that "Eating whale meat was normal for Japanese family. It's like eating beef in this country." <br />This was only true during the postwar years when food was in extremely short supply. I can imagine that Miwa's grandfather may have had an affection for it but this is certainly not representative of the population of Japan today. Whale meat consumption peaked in 1962, declined quickly thereafter and disappeared from school menus in the 1970s, though it is now being brought back as "education in traditional food", by politically motivated bodies.<br /><br />Inspiring your members to protest the eating of whales is admirable, but to suggest that it is still a Japanese tradition is misleading. <br />For more information there is plenty on the WEB. If you want Japanese info, I can find and translate it. <br />The book "Whaling in Japan" by Jun Morikawa leaves much to be desired but still has quite a bit of useful information. He wrote it in English and published it in the UK, and it is not available in Japanese. Maybe that should be my next project...Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03833765885352741598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153915594214885101.post-51877210038637998952010-11-08T21:03:42.157-08:002010-11-08T21:03:42.157-08:00P.S. from Simon.
I didn't make clear that I&#...P.S. from Simon. <br />I didn't make clear that I've been resident here in Japan for the past 32 years. That's why my English is a bit funny! :-)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03833765885352741598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4153915594214885101.post-23552849964247493822010-11-08T20:54:22.857-08:002010-11-08T20:54:22.857-08:00(Before I rant: let me remind readers that English...(Before I rant: let me remind readers that English posts are read only by people who read English. How many articles in Japanese have you read about this topic?)<br /><br />Please don't forget that the ordinary people who frequent aquariums and zoos are not likely to be sympathetic to rowdy protestors who try to stop them. They first need to be educated and convinced. Even aquarium staff are convinced they are doing a great job educating the public about wildlife!<br />(I talked to some at Nagoya COP10...)<br /><br />Sea Shepherd has already seriously retarded the efforts some of us (such as Greenpeace) are making to persuade Japanese consumers to abandon ecologically unsustainable products. But if it's a choice between radicals and the status quo you know what the normal person in the street is going to choose. In a conservative culture like this, they are not going to stand up for anything which is going to single them out as extremist, any more than you can expect the average redneck to give up eating meat or driving a gas-guzzler because somebody yelled at him. <br /><br />We need your help to CONTACT Japanese people and INFORM them of the situation as we see it so we can CONVERT them. Not to hit them over the head with it.<br />(Yes, it's a mission, and we need to be missionaries.)<br /><br />Confrontation leads to conflict.<br />Conversation leads to conversion,<br />and perhaps conservation!<br /><br />Most Japanese people have never heard of Taiji. <br />Most have never deliberately eaten whale. Even fewer want to eat it again. <br />But making a big fuss about Taiji (which is responsible for only 10% of the dolphins killed in Japan) puts the rightists into power with the weapon of "defending tradition", and drives people away from our position as defenders of the earth.<br /><br />I hope Miwa will contact me at my 野蛮人 account and lend us her obvious skills and energy toward bringing the average Japanese round to a more earth-friendly point of view, (in Japanese).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03833765885352741598noreply@blogger.com