Whaling—Japan
Japan has a long history (dating back to 10,000 BCE) of whaling. Whalebones have been found in ruins from the Jomon period (10,000—300 BCE). A description of whales appeared first in the Kojiki, the oldest Japanese written record (712 CE). Whale meat was in supply from the Muromachi period (1333–1573).
Whaling became a prosperous endeavor in the middle of the Edo period (1600/1603–1868), and whale meat continued to be eaten. During this period, the main whaling stations were in Taiji, Koza (Wakayama Prefecture), Tsuro, Fubotsu (Kochi), Ikitsuki, Waniura, Tsushima (Nagasaki), and Awa (Chiba). Harpooning by hand was the method used. Toward the end of the seventeenth century, techniques of net whaling were developed in Taiji and continued to dominate until the end of the nineteenth century. In 1662, whaling ships were painted, and fifteen-member crews used eight sets of oars. The whales caught were grays, rights, humpbacks, fins, and probably some minkes. Temples and shrines were built to commemorate the souls of whales drowned in nets.
By 1900, through Russian whaling, the Norwegian method of using a motorized fleet was introduced to Japan. This led to the development of modern coastal whaling. Whaling traditions spread from southern Japan to the northern coast of Hokkaido, and whaling took place not only along the coast but also in the open seas of the North Pacific and Antarctic. After World War II, the people of Japan became more and more dependent on whale meat because of a food crisis and the lack of other sources of protein. In 1951, Japan signed the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling of 1946. Japan gave up commercial whaling following the international moratorium in 1986 but has engaged in research, such as a whaling program to study southern ocean minke whales and the Antarctic ecosystem since 1987. The Institute of Cetacean Research, created in 1987, is implementing this program with the Japan Whaling Association. Conservationists view this institute's activities, through its whaling research program, as a cover for commercial whalers. In 1993, Japan hosted the Forty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (established in 1948) in Kyoto. The meeting resolved to work to alleviate distress to Japanese coastal whaling communities resulting from the moratorium. Today, there are four Japanese whaling communities, Taiji (population 3,900), Wada (population 6,000), Ayukawa (population 4,000), and Abashiri (population 44,000).
Further Reading
Kalland, Arne, and Brian Moeran. (1992) Japanese Whaling: End of an Era? London: Curzon Press.
Morita, Katsuhaki. (1994) Kujira to hogei no bunkarei (Cultural History of Whales and Whaling). Nagoya, Japan: University of Nagoya Press.
This is the complete article, containing 421 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
