Environmentalists pursue Japan's whalers

[matsuki]

Don't know if carbon fiber is as good, but old ships/trains/battletank are commonly sunk to be used as shelter by coutless ...naval... species... plus that means you are one dive session away from getting those spare part for your Renault FT17...

image.jpg

Yeah, I've seen them used to start reefs and such but methinks carbon fiber and all the shit on that thing aren't quite so helpful.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Tokyo district tries to reel in tourists with whale meat

When tourists think of Japan, images of dramatic landscapes, futuristic cities and world class sushi might spring to mind.

But one Tokyo district is hoping to reel in outsiders with one of the country's more controversial traditions -- slaughtering whales.

Ebisu, a chichi gastronomic hub close to Tokyo's frenetic Shibuya shopping district, is hosting an annual food festival aimed at introducing foreigners to the culinary delights of whale meat.

"With so many foreign tourists visiting Japan now, we would like to show how we really feel" about eating the animal, Takashi Furui, head of the event's executive committee, said at a press conference declaring the festival open last week.

[...]

Around 30 restaurants in Ebisu district are offering whale dishes throughout the festival, which closes on 18 October.

But few tourists visiting the district this week seemed willing to tuck into the dark meat, which fans say has a gamey quality, similar to venison.

How about asking some Chinese and Korean tourists if they'd like to try it?

[Wage Slave]

Complete waste of time and effort. All they will achieve is tourists feeling ripped off having paid good money for something they didn't enjoy. The stuff doesn't taste good - simple.

And because of that simple fact you can't persuade the Japanese to eat it in any significant quantities. Why on earth then do you think you will be able to persuade others?

[Russell]

Complete waste of time and effort. All they will achieve is tourists feeling ripped off having paid good money for something they didn't enjoy. The stuff doesn't taste good - simple.

And because of that simple fact you can't persuade the Japanese to eat it in any significant quantities. Why on earth then do you think you will be able to persuade others?

It shows that they live in their own world, and think they can convince others of the superiority of their whale meat diet.

[kurogane]

Well put. This combination of niggling irreversible economic decline and rampant delusional chauvinism is quite entertaining. Whale is shit. Fishy pork? Nai tak. Nice point about the dog muncher market, though (SJ?). Lest we forget, We don't even begin to count anymore except as a welcome tourist niche.

[Takechanpoo]

repeats again and again.
as for ONLY whale and dolphine meat, it somehow seems that eating itself is evil.

im pretty fed up.

its about time to learn how to disassemble everything to minimum elements and see it essentially, radically and ultimately, dudes.

[Samurai_Jerk]

repeats again and again.
as for ONLY whale and dolphine meat, it somehow seems that eating itself is evil.

im pretty fed up.

its about time to learn how to dismantle everything to minimum elements and see it essentially, radically and ultimately, dudes.

And plenty of us agree with you. However, that doesn't change the fact that most Westerners don't and trying to promote whale meat through an ill-conceived festival isn't going to change that or make it taste any better to them. If the target really is Asian tourists, it might be a hit though.

[kurogane]

Plus it still tastes like crap. It's just hard to get peasant meat, so it might go over well with the nouveaus from the neighbouring shitholes given what they call food. I've met people that have desperately tried to tell me that game, or squirrel, or wabbit is better than the meats people that get paid buy, but I am simply too well raised to laugh at plebby reverse pretence. Enjoy your road kill, I'll have meat you buy at the store with the money I made for having paid attention in school.

Take,
Whale is bad to eat because it's shit, not because it's bad to eat whale.

[dimwit]

I like whale lard.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Plus it still tastes like crap. It's just hard to get peasant meat, so it might go over well with the nouveaus from the neighbouring shitholes given what they call food. I've met people that have desperately tried to tell me that game, or squirrel, or wabbit is better than the meats people that get paid buy, but I am simply too well raised to laugh at plebby reverse pretence. Enjoy your road kill, I'll have meat you buy at the store with the money I made for having paid attention in school.

Take,
Whale is bad to eat because it's shit, not because it's bad to eat whale.

I don't know about rabbit or squirrel but the reason game meat often taste so bad is it's not prepared properly. From the kill to the time the meat is cooked everything has to be handled a certain way or it gets ruined. The same is true of livestock but the standardization of the slaughtering process means it doesn't happen too often. The problem is most people who hunt don't know what to do once they've shot the animal and end up really fucking up the meat.

I always though venison was too gamy till I had some prepared by a real hillbilly who knew what he was doing and it was damn good. Same with the venison and wild duck I've had at a French restaurant in Nishi Azabu that my boss likes. The owner/head chef regularly goes to Hokkaido to hunt a lot of what's served and nothing is in the least bit gamy. All that being said I'd still prefer baby back ribs or a T-bone steak. Of course you've admitted to having an exceptionally boring pedestrian palate so my guess is you're more a Velveeta, bologna, and mayonnaise on Wonder Bread kid of guy.

Whale on the other hand is at best so-so. Sometimes it's OK at first bite but the aftertaste is usually awful.

[Coligny]

Game meat is best when "faisandee"...
Or partially rotten...
Or the reason why I can dine on Nutella and crackers...

[kurogane]

I don't know about rabbit or squirrel but the reason game meat often taste so bad is it's not prepared properly.

That makes sense, but only helps me understand why I don't like it. In the absence of any of these hillbilly chefs, it probably always will. I once had deer or moose at a fancy bistro: it was alright, but I still think I should have ordered real meat.

Of course you've admitted to having an exceptionally boring pedestrian palate so my guess is you're more a Velveeta, bologna, and mayonnaise on Wonder Bread kid of guy.

I am actually one of those of the Lost Generation that was raised on what we used to call food, and taught to buy it, cook it and eat it. I had Velveeta once when I was about 28 and my first thought was, Ummm, Japanese Cheese in Canada I get that you are sincerely adventurous about food and stuff, but I still think most people that try shiite do it from pressure or unwitting conformity. Like those Crapt beer overloaded with hops, which is supposed to be a taste enhancer not a hydrogen bomb for the palate. I simply don't do YOLO when it comes to food.

Whale on the other hand is at best so-so. Sometimes it's OK at first bite but the aftertaste is usually awful.

Like any desperation ingredient. Most so-called Delicacies strike me as famine time necessities gussied up by pretence and bafflegab. Caviar comes to mind. The time I had whale or dolphin foisted on me the pighead wouldn't grill it for me, but I think that would have only helped with texture not taste. Easily the most worthless 3000 yen I have ever spent on food. Most non-Jpn I know that liked it are either babbling morons, or suffer from that weird thing where anything you try has to be good or it's your fault for being insufficiently sophisticated. As a cosmopolitan philistine, I'll have a nice steak please. Or Tonkatsu, which never seems to go wrong even when it's crappy tonkatsu.

I can buy that many Jpn will take to it, though. It's that love of gross, slimey and yucky they have, like with Chawan Mushi. And the mercury doesn't bug them, which is not particularly admirable but they're probably not all that wrong.

[Wage Slave]

I can buy that many Jpn will take to it, though. It's that love of gross, slimey and yucky they have, like with Chawan Mushi. And the mercury doesn't bug them, which is not particularly admirable but they're probably not all that wrong.

But there's the thing there's absolutely no evidence that they are taking to it - On the contrary they are shunning it. Not from a moral perspective but just because it doesn't taste good. Meantime the cheese/yoghurt section of every supermarket is expanding apace. As is the wine section but that's another story. Tastes are changing - talking to kids, which I am compelled to do, lays stark the shift. It's really striking how many 10 to 12 years olds and up actively dislike fish, never mind dolphin or whale, and avoid it.

And Tacky, whatever you say I reserve the right to refuse to buy or eat certain foods because production process is unacceptable by reason of egregious cruelty or location. In that category lie fois gras and veal - However, I have no design to forcibly prevent others from eating it. In addition although it isn't really an issue because of the taste and health hazard from mercury but drive hunted and crudely slaughtered dolphin is also unacceptable. In more enlightened times I could also avoid battery farmed chicken and eggs but that's difficult here. Whalemeat taken from the Antarctic sanctuary, taste aside, is also unacceptable even if it can be argued the production process is not overly cruel because I think the Antarctic sanctuary is a good idea and will benefit all of mankind long into the future.

[Yokohammer]

Whale meat as a delicacy is such a precious concept for some of the locals. One guy got very, very upset when I told him I just didn't like the stuff after having tried it in a variety of forms: everything from out of a can to whale shabu-shabu at very exclusive and expensive ryotei. It's just phmeh to me.

Anyway, I had never met this guy before, but he walked up to me at a BBQ type event up in the Zao mountains and the first thing out of his mouth was "so, have you ever eaten whale?" When I told him I had but didn't particularly like it he launched into a lecture about how it is actually very delicious (making no allowance for individual preference) and how I must not have tried the "really good stuff" (honestly, I've eaten whale enough times that I'm pretty sure I would have encountered the "really good stuff" at least once in the past 40+ years if such a variety truly exists), and blathered on about how "we Japanese" use every part of the whale, wasting nothing, and then pray at a whale shrine ... and had I ever prayed at a cow shrine? Obviously a bit of an extreme nutcase, who I simply turned away from and ignored for the rest of the day as did just about everyone else at the event. Fuckwits like that can make having a good day difficult at times.

[Coligny]

Yes, but they make a good case for concealed carry and legalizing murder...

[Mike Oxlong]

Rebranding it as narwhal meat and proclaiming it has broad medicinal powers akin to their powdered tusks will have the Chinese choking it down in droves. Just saying.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Or partially rotten

The word you're looking for is "aged" and you're exactly right. The venison the hillbilly cooked for me had been dry-aged in a meat locker. How you clean the animal is also very important. You have to bleed it out, remove the glands, and remove the silverskin properly.

I am actually one of those of the Lost Generation that was raised on what we used to call food, and taught to buy it, cook it and eat it.

I used to have a Canadian buddy here older than you that would make special trips from Saitama to the international supermarkets in Tokyo to get Velveeta. But he was from Alberta.

But there's the thing there's absolutely no evidence that they are taking to it - On the contrary they are shunning it. Not from a moral perspective but just because it doesn't taste good.

But there are plenty of people in their 30's and up who do like it and I don't think they're all eating it out of spite.

When I told him I had but didn't particularly like it he launched into a lecture about how it is actually very delicious (making no allowance for individual preference) and how I must not have tried the "really good stuff"

That's what people always tell me when I say I don't like shiokara.

[Coligny]

When i was a kitten there was still butchers specialized in game meat inside Paris. With still fully feathered birds on display for sale. The feline side in me was fascinated. While the rapidly vanishing human side was losing his breakfast on the sidewalk.
Then it seems that EU regulations made it illegal. Horse butchers went the same way for other reason. One being that horse meat is kinda bleh. Unless raw if i remember well...

[matsuki]

But there's the thing there's absolutely no evidence that they are taking to it - On the contrary they are shunning it. Not from a moral perspective but just because it doesn't taste good.

But there are plenty of people in their 30's and up who do like it and I don't think they're all eating it out of spite.

It's served at enough places, even in Tokyo, that I think some old people like it but I think WS is right with the shift to shunning it, like many other "We Japanese" traditional foods...based on the taste. My boss, in his 50's now, always says it was served at school in mass quantities so most of the people he know that are his age aren't too fond of it. Mmmm mmm mercury laden cafeteria food!

[kurogane]

When I told him I had but didn't particularly like it he launched into a lecture about how it is actually very delicious[b] (making no allowance for individual preference)[/b] and how I must not have tried the "really good stuff" (honestly, I've eaten whale enough times that I'm pretty sure I would have encountered the "really good stuff" at least once in the past 40+ years if such a variety truly exists), and blathered on ...........

That's what people always tell me when I say I don't like shiokara.

The psychology of that fascinates me: how credulous is somebody that can argue that the range of individual human preference can be reduced to understanding and opportunity? I don't like Shiokara because it's made of stuff that should be in a garbage can, and it's squishy and slimy in texture, which is an automatic out for me, and whale because it is unappetising and used to be a cute and smart megafauna frolicking freely in the frigid froth. Given that, how could there possibly be Good Stuff, unless it simply isn't Shiokara, or whale. I do get that in Japan, usually from the same sort of pedantic nimlicks that Yokohammer mentioned, but I find North American Foodies and Crapt Beer fags to be far worse about it. As I understand it, to simply not care for something is to admit to being an ignorant unsophisticate, and worse, not YOLO positive. Professor Pangloss must be cheering from his grave, and the Replicants Overlords of the media from their lair.

[dimwit]

If people actually like the taste of whale meat than good on them. To me, it's like a fried lard and grease sandwich, but to each their own. But I get the feeling that a lot of the whale meat lovers endure the stuff just so they can be patriotic. Kinda of the way you see talents in food shows here eating something horrific and but giving their 'oishii' of approval.

[dimwit]

Whales kill.

Five British nationals died when the whale-watching boat Leviathan II sank off the coast of Tofino, B.C., officials say.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed the victims' nationalities in a statement released Monday.

"It is with deep sadness that I can confirm five British nationals have lost their lives when the whale watching boat they were on sank off Western Canada on Sunday," Hammond said.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the vessel to capsize Sunday, killing five of the 27 passengers and crew who were tossed into the frigid water.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/five-briti ... -1.2627430

No one has to be told what caused the boat to capsize.

[kurogane]

Yes, a sad story that. I am opposed to whale watching tours but nobody needs to die doing it. The company involved has killed customers before (1998?), so this could turn into a whale of a story if negligence is found to be a cause or contributor. Hopefully the media will wait for the findings of a proper inquiry before they start spouting about the causes of this tragedy.

Meanwhile, this poor guy's story seems to have slipped through the cracks:

Missing hiker Michael Charles Low found dead in crevasse near Pemberton, BC, Canader
Police were called after Low failed to return from overnight hike
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3288182

Anyways, back to the killer whales:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/world/cana ... 21-rescued
Canadian officials: Whale vessel sinks; 5 dead, 21 rescued

This is really turning into something I never would have imagined: it is all over the news. The coverage is getting downright gargantuan, or dare I say it........leviathan?

Must be the Pity and Pain story of the day.

[Mike Oxlong]

Japan rejects international court jurisidiction over whaling

Japan has moved suddenly to fence itself off from any future challenge to its Antarctic whaling in the International Court of Justice.

After its last whaling program was ruled illegal by the court in a case brought by Australia, its latest plan to restart whaling within weeks has come under strong scientific attack.

Now the Japanese government has told United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in a special declaration that it will take a sweeping exception to the court's jurisdiction.

It says the court's jurisdiction "does not apply to ... any dispute arising out of, concerning, or relating to research on, or conservation, management or exploitation of, living resources of the sea".

The declaration was made by Japan's ambassador to the UN, Motohide Yoshikawa​, earlier this month, and disclosed in Australian political circles on Sunday night.

Under the latest whaling plan, called NEWREP-A, Japan intends to kill nearly 4000 minke whales over the next 12 years, beginning with 330 this summer.

"It would appear that Japan has taken some pre-emptive steps to ensure NEWREP-A cannot be challenged before the ICJ," Don Rothwell, a professor of international law at Australian National University, said.

"This is surprising, if only because Japan has previously indicated a strong commitment for the international rule of law," he said.

"It now limits Australia's options to challenge NEWREP-A."

The court's 2014 decision found that Japan's previous program, JARPA II, was not scientific research, as defined under International Whaling Commission rules.

The court ruled by 12 votes to four against Japan, and ordered it to revoke scientific permits issued under the program.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to resume research whaling, but over the past 18 months, Japan faced trouble trying to fit NEWREP-A within the terms of the international court's ruling.

A special panel of whaling commission experts said in January Japan had failed to demonstrate the need for killing whales in order to achieve the plan's objectives.

The plan also failed to gain the support of the commission's full scientific committee in May.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said Australia had met with the Japanese Government to discuss Japan's "attempt" to exclude itself from the court over whaling.

"We are taking legal advice on the implications of Japan's actions," Mr Hunt said.

"We are disappointed by Japan's decision, and we hope that Japan does not undertake so-called 'scientific' whaling this summer in the Southern Ocean."

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said Japan had promised to abide by the court's decision and uphold the rule of law, but it had backed away from this position.

"This is a crucial test for the prime minister," Senator Whish-Wilson said. "All Australians, right across the political spectrum feel very strongly about this issue."

Japan's IWC Commissioner, Joji Morishita, declined to comment on the move.

"Actually, that is a question for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so you need to ask them," Mr Morishita said.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ ... kc7rm.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The popularity of whale meat as food has declined sharply in Japan in recent years. But the practice remains culturally important to many Japanese and the meat of the cetaceans was presented to tourists at a major food festival that ended last week.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society said Japan’s snub of the ICJ was a “wake-up call” to other nations.

“Countries should not be allowed to pick and choose which bits of international law they are bound by,” said Darren Kindleysides, director of the conservation group. “This is a deeply cynical move showing utter contempt for the rule of international law.

“Japan’s Antarctic whaling has failed the test of international law, and the test of science, yet the hunt could resume within weeks. The Australian government must once again stand up to Japan.”

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... haling-ban

[Coligny]

Aka: lalala i can't hear you...

[Takechanpoo]

i recently see some of rational, objective and realistic people commenting on the whaling related articles by english medias.
i will give a certain appreciation for it

[Yokohammer]

Why, oh why? What do they gain from being so damn bloody minded?
Nothing but condemnation and ill will from the international community, of course.

Immature, uncooperative, obstreperous kiddies. You'd think they'd understand the damage they do to themselves, but I guess it doesn't matter. As long as they win. Getting what they want is all that matters. Fuck the rest of the world.

Not dignified, not honourable, and not smart.

[matsuki]

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said Japan had promised to abide by the court's decision and uphold the rule of law, but it had backed away from this position.

This is how I remember it...so it was total bullshit?

Bring out the torpedoes!!

[kurogane]

Why, oh why? What do they gain from being so damn bloody minded?
Nothing but condemnation and ill will from the international community, of course.

Immature, uncooperative, obstreperous kiddies. You'd think they'd understand the damage they do to themselves, but I guess it doesn't matter. As long as they win. Getting what they want is all that matters. Fuck the rest of the world.

Not dignified, not honourable, and not smart.

That seems a bit harsh. The usual Aunty Podean thing aside, most Australians I have met aren't the out and out Loud, Proud & White is Right! pedantic cunts these government finger waggers seem to be. I agree they seem to be standing On Principle, which is usually a euphemism for childish peeve, but aside from the extraterritorial hubris and the obvious subterranean racism of the Australian position this is a very, very important issue to people with nothing better to do and not much to do it with, and the Green Party probably knows that and are playing to their natural base, the mentally indigent cat ladies that think cute counts more than right. No worse than the Sea Shitbirds, really, though it would be nice if they would all grow up and mind their own billabong.

The real problem is what a screaming waste of resources this is for all involved. While the Japanese are right to defend their rights it all seems so pointless I would prefer if they just gave it up and hunted for their mercury meat in home waters.

[kurogane]

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said Japan had promised to abide by the court's decision and uphold the rule of law, but it had backed away from this position.

This is how I remember it...

Imagine that, you agreeing with a self-serving Asstralian politico named Pish-Posh that bashes Japan for not obeying orders from The Mighty Whitey. The legal ruling rejected the idea that the Japanese hunt as it then stood was legitimately scientific, and so was not allowed under the treaty. The ruling itself was quite restricted, which was probably necessary given the mandate of either the court or that treaty. The Japanese agreed to abide by that specific ruling and were very clear they intended to reform their plans so they would abide by the treaty but also continue Genuinely Scientific Whaling ( ). The real problem here is you have hysterical White Imperialist panda huggers stomping their feet because the Japanese aren't playing what they consider to be fair (by their usual elementary school recess break measure), and an ancient and very clever people used to parsing and quibbling over the excrutiating minutiae of agreements that refuse to bow down to childish hysteria and racist bullying.

Your memory has probably been clouded by that pavlovian boner you popped when you heard somebody screaming:

Japan Bad!!! Bad Japan!!!!!!!!!!!!!