The Japanese are against whale activists.
 

According to Australia, that is.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...E30417,00.html

Oh, right, forumites usually do this so they can say something about it. Um... see, Japan is evil!

What I don't get is why they are doing this. The article says that Japan is specifically targeting endangered whales. Is Japan just doing this to be a jerk? Do endangered whales taste better? I'm not sure you'd even be able to eat these whales because the explosion could mangle these whales grotesquely. Trophies? I thought we didn't care about trophies these days. Maybe Japan hates whales. At least we can be thankful they aren't using these super-harpoons in our harbors.

They like the flavor. There is such a thing as whale ice cream, you know.

I've been reading about this for a long time, and also 'activists' who ram the boats.

It kind of sucks, but you have to realise how competitive people still are. You think hunting has disappeared? Hardly. 'Rare quarries' are the most exhilirating for some people.

The Japanese can often be entirely inconsiderate when it comes to things like this. Like in that 'sushi' video on Google Video--the comment about how to subtly suggest to the waiter that you want to eat an illegal menu was less of an outrageous joke and more a grim, sardonic criticism.

Sometimes, I wonder if humans are like some kind of highly developed virus... Where, like, we THINK we're this 'society' or whatever, but we're really just here to give the planet a raging case of syphilis, typhiod, and um, maybe cancer or something.

Anyway, we like to make a lot of things extinct, on the whole. What if whales are like the oceans white blood cells? That'd make us 6-foot tall HIV infections, that's what.

I'm looking at you, Mr. Anderson....

But yeah, I'm not exactly sure what's to be gained from blowing the brains out of endangered whales. Honestly, I can't imagine they're THAT tasty. I mean, it's not like they're babies or anything.

Tender, succulent babies.... mmm.....

I've spent some good time in Japan (US bases in Okinawa and Yokosuka). One thing I've noticed about the Japanese was that they are very curious when it comes to cuisine.

I was watching a documentary about pandas with a local girl I was seeing at the time*. I would say, "Awww. I didn't know they were closer to racoons than bears genetically. Why do we call them panda bears?"

She would say, "I wonder what it tastes like. I wonder how you kill it, clean it, cook it and eat it." Food is a very serious thing in Japan (they invented Iron Chef after all).

Do I think it is wrong to hunt something endangered just to taste it? Yes. That's clear as a bell to me.
Do the people in the article? Not at all. That's clear as a bell to them.

*Don't tell my fiancee!

I'm guessing they are endangered because they're popular - as food and cosmetics - which is probably why Whalers are hunting them so conspicuously.

Japan's not the most environmentally friendly of countries, it's more concerned with environmental problems that directly hurt humans than in maintaining biodiversity and green spaces - but I suspect most know that bringing an animal to extinction isn't good, but things like these have support in the culture and people who are profitting off it, and that leads to escalation rather than reduction.

Incidentally, remember the scandal a little while back where some Chinese, or Taiwanese bar, or something, served a form of tiger? It's an ultra-rare dish that's not allowed to be served...making it all the more enticing. Just more info on the desire for 'rare food' in the east.

if you ever find yourelf in a japanese sushi bar, don't order kujira.

not only are you contributing to the extinction of large sea mammals, but it tastes horrible too!

<_<

I have a friend who, while he was an exchange student in Japan, ate whale and horse, he said he liked it. When I was there I stayed away from this (for the record though I have eaten Fugu).
My point is this isn't just a Japanese thing, lots of countries kill animals for lots of other reasons, I am not saying it is right, I am just saying it very common. I hate to sound cruel but I like the idea a lot more that they eat the animals then if they wear them. it seems a lot less like they are 'wasting' it.
Oh and in regards to the activists, I don't like Greenpeace or a lot of these other animal and nature rights organizations, I agree with a lot of their arguments, but I find them much too extreme. They make it hard to put a serious face on the movement.

I once read something on Reuters about that...

The article said that some minister in Japan believed that whales are the cause for starvation in the world. He also said that whales eat three to five times more seafood than humans, (something around 400 million tons of fish) and since we have 800 million people starving to death, he thinks it's reasonable to kill whales like cockroaches in a dirty kitchen.

I read this around four years ago... I'm surprised to see this crazy plan is still working.