Japanese Folly

From a Western perspective, there's a lot to admire in Japan. As with all countries, however, there's also a fair amount to loathe.

When an ethicity, nationality, culture or religion is involved with something heinous, they often justify their actions by invoking the rights of tradition. "It is our way," they say to critics. "You as outsiders do not understand our culture and should therefore not censure our activities or rituals." This reasoning has been used to deter meddling and defend repression, persecution, and even genocide throughout the ages. Tradition and heritage have no right to be included in any discussion of ethics or morality. Our ancestors were benighted fools who believed the Earth was flat, black people constituted only three-fifths of a human being, and that slavery was morally just. The Japanese are invoking this same ludicrous logic right now. Every year the government there sponsors a "dolphin drive" to herd marine mammals into shallow bays and coves and then cut or bludgeon them at close range with knives and clubs. They are left to bleed, and then pulled from the water by their tails.

In the face of international (and some domestic) pressure to put a halt to this centuries-old tradition, Takumi Fukuda, the fisheries attache at the Japanese Emabassy in Washington, D.C., responded with, "It is kind of our cultural activity. We think it is important."

Dolphins are some of the most intelligent and self-aware creatures on this planet. They are one of the few animals (along with chimpanzees, elephants and humans) who can recognize themselves in a mirror. They deserve better than to be sold as fake whale meat and dog food. The image below is from today's Washington Post.



Click here for a short but informative National Geographic article on the dolphin hunts, and how a bottlenose with four limbs -- perhaps evidence that dolphins evolved from land animals -- was caught up in the culling.

Roughly 16,000 dolphins have already been killed, and the Japanese fishermen are going for over 20,000 by April.

If you'd like to help end the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, click here to add your name to a petition sponsored by The Ocean Project, that will eventually be sent to Shinzo Abe, Japan's new Prime Minister.