Taiji, Wakayama

Taiji (太地町, Taiji-chō^?) is a town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama, Japan. As of 2007, the town has an estimated population of 3,444 and a density of 577.85 persons per km². The total area is 5.96 km². Taiji is the smallest local government by area in Wakayama Prefecture because, unlike others, it hasn't experienced a merger since 1889 when the village of Moriura merged into Taiji. Taiji shares its entire overland border with the town of Nachikatsuura and faces the Pacific Ocean. Taiji has been well-known as a whaling town and is considered as the birth place of Japan's traditional whaling method. Taiji is a major center for dolphin drive hunting.

History

Taiji was primarily known as a whaling town. Japanese traditional whaling technique was dramatically developed here in the 17th century, and the commercial slaughter of dolphins remains a major source of income for its residents to this day.^[1] Wada Chūbei organized the group hunting system (刺手組) and introduced new handheld harpoon in 1606. Wada Kakuemon, later known as Taiji Kakuemon, invented the whaling net technique called Amitori hō (網取法) to increase the safety and efficiency of whaling. This method lasted more than 200 years. The town was dealt a massive blow in 1878 when an accident during a hunt claimed more than 100 lives, which resulted in the collapse of the group hunting system. Taiji's whaling industry became buoyant again after the Russo-Japanese War as it became a base for modern whaling. In 1988, Taiji suspended their commercial whaling as a result of an IWC ruling.

Traditional Whaling in Taiji, depicted in a maki-e in the Edo period

International animal rights activism

In 1979 environmental filmmaker Hardy Jones first went to Taiji to attempt to free 200 mellonheaded whales which had been captured by fishermen for slaughter to provide food for lions at the Shirahama Zoo. By threatening to expose the slaughter on television, Jones was able to secure the release of the small whales. Jones, who founded BlueVoice.org with film star Ted Danson in 2000 has returned to Taiji numerous times to try to stop the capture and slaughter of dolphins and small whales in Taiji. His film "The Dolphin Defender", produced by the PBS series NATURE documents these events. Slaughtering of dolphins for commercial purposes in Taiji still continues. In 2003, two activists were arrested for cutting the net to release captured dolphins. They spent 23 days in jail.^[2] Other celebrities have protested the dolphin killings as well. On November 1, 2007 Hayden Panettiere was confronted by Japanese fishermen, as she and several other activists were interfering with their annual hunt by attempting "to rescue a pool of dolphins captured in fishing nets."^[3] She drove straight to an airport with her fellow activists and left the country "to avoid being arrested for trespassing by the Japanese police". Many Japanese consider this kind of act to be an attack on their culture.^[4]　Taiji's fishery cooperative union argues that these protesters "continue willfully to distort the facts about this fishery" and their agendas are " based neither on international law nor on science but rather on emotion for economic self-interest."^[5]

Sightseeing

Museums

• Taiji Whale Museum opened in 1969. It exhibits more than 1,000 items in relation to whales and whaling including skeletal preparations of several whale species.
• Hiromitsu Ochiai Baseball Museum commemorates Japanese baseball player Hiromitsu Ochiai who won the triple crown three times in the Japanese Baseball League.
• Ishigaki Museum commemorates painter Eitaro Ishigaki who hailed from Taiji. His wife Ayako, a critic, founded the museum in 1991.

Onsens (Spas)

There are two small-scale onsens (Japanese-style spas) in the town.

• Taiji Onsen
• Natsusa (or Nassa) Onsen

Festivals

Taiji's summer festival is called the Taiji Isana Festival that is held annually on August 14th. Isana is an old Japanese word for whales. Its autumn festival is called the Taiji Kujira Festival (kuijra means whales in Japanese) that is annually held on the first Sunday of November. Both the festivals are heavily whale-themed and the attractions include the Kujira Odori (lit. whale dance) and the Kujira Daiko (lit. whale drumming). The Kujira Odori is a traditional dance that whalers used to perform to celebrate good catch. This dance is unique in that the dancers only use their upper body as they dance sitting on whaling boats. It is identified as intangible cultural heritage by Wakayama Prefecture.^[6] The Kujira Daiko is also traditional and it describes a battle between a big whale and small whaling boats by drumming.

Transportation

Railway

The Kisei Main Line of JR West runs through Taiji. Taiji station is the only station in the town and is located just outside the Moriura area. A circular bus service is available to connect to the main area of Taiji. All the regular trains and some of express trains stop at the station.

Roads

The main roads that run through Taiji are as follows.

• National highway route 42
• Wakayama prefectural road route 289
• Wakayama prefectural road route 240

Education

Taiji has one primary school (Taiji Primary School) and one junior high school (Taiji Junior High School). There is no high school or university.

Twin towns

• Broome, Western Australia (Australia) since 1981
• Hakuba, Nagano (Japan) since 1984

Notable people from Taiji

• Eitaro Ishigaki (1893-1958) - a painter; At a young age, he emigrated to the U.S.A. where he made his name as a painter.
• Kiwako Taichi (1943-1992) - an actress; She took her stage name from her birthplace although she decided to pronounce it as Taichi instead of Taiji.

References

External links

• Official town website (in Japanese)
• Dolphin Slaughter in Taiji

Wakayama Prefecture
Cities
Arida | Gobō | Hashimoto | Iwade | Kainan | Kinokawa | Shingū | Tanabe | Wakayama (capital)
Districts
Arida | Hidaka | Higashimuro | Ito | Kaisō | Nishimuro
See also: Towns and villages by district edit

Coordinates: 33°36′N, 135°57′E