1. Inquiry Project: Japanese Whaling
Kaitlyn Birdsall-Thomas
April 2017

2. Initial Interest and Inquiry Questions
Would YOU eat whale meat?
What are the traditions of Japanese whaling?
What types of whales do the Japanese usually hunt?
What are the current restrictions on Japanese whaling?
What is the scientific research found from whaling?
What are the pros and cons of Japanese whaling?
In the current era, is whaling still something that is culturally appropriate in Japan? Is it necessary?

3. What led me to these questions:
Personal experience – I have eaten whale
Some basic background knowledge – I knew about dolphin hunting and whaling by the Japanese as I had heard about the documentary “The Cove”
Curiosity- I wanted to know what the history of Japanese whaling, if it was cultural like the Inuit tribes

4. What resources did I come across?
Online websites – easiest to find, difficult to recognize if it is reliable or not
Online Database – much more reliable, but hard to find articles that would be accessible to a young reader
Documentaries – While these are engaging, they are highly biased

5. A Brief History of Japanese Whaling
Costal whale hunting in the early 17th century
1675 – Taiji hunters invented the net method (very similar to the way they catch dolphins today)
Whaling and dolphin hunting happened on coasts and was a part of costal Japan culture, but was not a staple in most Japanese diets
Pelagic (ocean fleet) whaling did not happen until the 1890s after the introduction of automatic harpooning from the Norwegians

6. History, Cont.
Due to a food shortage after WWII, General Douglas MacArthur encouraged whaling and oversaw two naval ships converted into whaling vessels. Whale became a nationwide source of protein
In 1954, the School Lunch Act provided whale meat in all elementary and middle school lunches.
In 1986, the International Whaling Commission declared a moratorium on commercial whale hunting for non-research purposes. While other countries (Norway, Iceland) do not follow this moratorium, Japan’s response was the creation of the Institute of Cetacean Research in 1987, which allows the collection and killing of whales for scientific study. It is the only country that still hunts in International waters as all other whaling countries do it in their own water (Lee). Japan's hunting ground includes a whale sanctuary in Antarctica.
In 2014, further restrictions were placed by the IWC to close the scientific loophole, demonstrating that any research collected could be done through non-lethal measures. (Lee, 2014).  However, Japan chose to disregard this message and continues whaling in International waters despite the new restrictions, limiting themselves to only 333 minke whales in 2015.

9. Small Costal Whaling
Japan has also continued to hunt smaller cetaceans like dolphins that are not protected by the IWC
23,000 dolphins are caught per year in Taiji, Japan
Due to local pollution, the dolphins have high levels of mercury.
Heavy mercury poisoning was originally discovered in Minamata, Japan, in 1956 after Chisso factory dumped waste that bonded to all the fish in the area. (
The Japanese government says the safe level for humans is .4 ppm of mercury. Japanese who eat dolphin from Taiji have up to 1,600 times this amount (up to 18.4 ppm) when tested.

10. Cost of whaling in Japan
Whaling that is done for "scientific study" such as the last hunt in 2016 where 333 minke whales were caught must be subsidized by the government even though they sell the meat. The sale of the meat is not enough to support the whaling voyage.
According to WWF, the Japanese whaling industry is supported through the "use of taxpayer funds by Japan. During the season, the Japanese whaling industry, for example, needed US$12 million in taxpayer money just to break even. Overall, Japanese subsidies for whaling amount to US$164 million since 1988." 
Whale meat demand has also decreased, when in 1994 it was around $30 per kg, in 2006 it cost $16.40 per kg. This demonstrates that the Japanese people don't really want whale meat, but even if they don't, their tax dollars are going to support it. 

11. So why does Japan still hunt?
Culture – whale is considered a large fish, not necessarily something to be cherished. Dolphins are considered a pest that depletes fisheries
Government – Several government positions are in charge of whaling. Without whaling, they would lose their positions. Since they are the people vying to keep whaling a priority in the government, there is little change it will disappear without the Japanese taxpayer having a greater interest in the topic.

12. Specialized Academic Vocabulary
Cetacean 
Net whaling
Pelagic whaling
LTCW (large type costal whaling)
STCW (small type costal whaling) – dolphin hunting
Moratorium
Mercury Poisoning- Chisso-Minamata Disease
Bycatch
Kujira ( Japanese for whale)
Methods ( General Academic) 

13. Online Article Resources

14. Online Research Journal Database
Wingfield-Hayes, Rupert. "Japan and the Whale." BBC News. BBC, 08 Feb Web. 26 Mar

15. Documentary
Psihoyos, Louie. The Cove. Toronto: Distributed in Canada by Maple Pictures, 2009.
Yagi, Keiko. Behind the Cove: The Quiet Japanese Speak Out. Cinemaflix Distributions, 2016.