. Whaling was practiced by a very few remote Japanese villages as far back as the 16th Century, but this traditional whaling was isolated, small, and was carried out with nets from shore. Less than 1% of the Japanese people participated in whaling as consumers until 1908 and less than 10% participated as consumers until 1930. Today only a small percentage of Japanese people eat whale meat.
The Chinese should never forget that it was profits from whale oil sold by Japan that provided the war chest to invade Manchuria and China and led to the Rape of Nanking.
Modern whaling is a practice borrowed from the Norwegians because of a ruthless businessman named Jura Oka who hired Norwegians and bought Norwegian equipment to establish commercial whaling. There is nothing traditionally Japanese about modern whaling.
Today, Japan is leading an effort to slaughter more and more whales. Japanese whaling industry spokesman Joji Morishita has publicly stated that whaling is not about the money but about pride. Morishita vows that Japan will never surrender to the anti-whaling views of non-Japanese.
The brutal killing of whales has become an icon for the Japanese identity. This is not unusual. Japan has always closely identified with blood and slaughter. From the decapitations by the Samurai upon innocent peasants to the suicidal insanity of the Kamikaze, violence and self destruction have been a part of Japanese culture.
It is this killing - this willful slaughter not just of whales, but also of dolphins on Japanese beaches - that has become almost ritualistic. It is this ritualistic slaughter that is traditional.
"We kill therefore we are" is the best way of viewing this identity and it is not a healthy perspective. Japanese history has already demonstrated in fire and blood just how unhealthy this perspective really is.
The Japanese say that we must respect their culture. I can only respond by asking why? What is it about Japanese culture we MUST respect? We can choose to respect the tea ceremony and rightfully so. We can choose to respect origami, ikebana, bonsai, No plays, sumo, Zen, and Shintoism.
We can choose not to respect seppuku, class inequality, kamikazes, and the slaughter of whales and dolphins.
No Westerner, Chinese, Indian or Arab, is under a cultural imperative to accept inhumane slaughter and blood sports. All human beings have a right to disrespect killing of any kind without being condemned or vilified for it.
Japanese defenders of whaling have actually accused whale defenders of being racists for opposing the killing of whales. The opposition of the killing of anything cannot be dismissed as racist. There is no racial or cultural justification for slaughter. None.
Especially for a practise that is not, and has never been, a tradition.
