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April.21.2024 KIP Forum "Is Japan a barbaric country? Culture and environmental protection"
Ms.Rina Keboushi, The University of Tokyo, Faculty of Agriculture, 4th year
Ms.Keboshi spoke about the ecology of whales and their relationship with humans, and discussed their economic use in this country.
【Speech and Q&A】
We heard about both the natural scientific aspect of whale ecology and the social scientific aspect of its use. We were reminded that whales are an extremely diversified species in terms of size and habitat. On the other hand, I learnt that there is a widespread ideology that lumps together the diverse characteristics of whales, derisively known as super whale theory. Later, the participants learnt about the various discussions that have taken place at the IWC (International Whaling Commission) regarding whaling, where whaling is broadly categorized into three purposes: survival of indigenous people, commercial and research. During the question and answer session, we learned that these categories can be said to be arbitrary to some extent and that the scientific findings (of whales) submitted by the Scientific Committee have also not been well applied at the IWC.
【Ground discussion】
The discussion concerned the topic Should Japan continue whaling for commercial purposes in the existing way even under international criticism? At first, there was a series of discussions on the economic potential and growth potential of commercial whaling in Japan as an industry. Opposition to the continuation of commercial whaling included the fact that it is not a strong industry and concerns about the impact of continued whaling on research of whale. On the other hand, from a different point of view, some argued that even if criticism is the trend, it is not reasonable to follow a point of view that unilaterally denies culture and causes psychological damage to local people. Others said that if whaling is seen as an industry, the decision to abolish it cannot be taken on simple grounds as long as there are people engaged in it. Some said that there was no good reason to abolish existing whaling because it was unlikely to become a serious diplomatic issue with Japan, as it was mostly criticized by a few countries, even if it was under international criticism. As a result of this multifaceted discussion, in which the pros and cons of each side were compared and the point of compromise was explored, the final majority was in favor of sustaining commercial whaling.
【Personal Opinion】
The title of this forum uses the extremely sensational phrase, Is Japan a barbaric country?. It is the sentiment of those who see whaling as evil that decries Japans continued whaling as barbaric. Whether it is the view of nature that ;whales other living creatures that underlies their ideology, or the values that see whales as the commons of the earth, the result is that their emotive behavior is perpetrated against those who continue whaling, resulting in an exchange of feelings. The trouble with this issue is that, as in the debate, it is easy to confuse the practical arguments for continued whaling with the emotional arguments for harm. We felt that the first step towards solving the problem is to calmly discuss the issue without confusing these arguments. The learning was also significant in more abstract areas. At the root of the whaling issue, various mistakes of ignoring diversification are considered to be at the root of the whaling issue. This includes super whale thinking that ignores the diversity of whales and simplifying the purpose of whaling to survival or commerce. On the other hand, we Japanese must also have a broad perspective on the significance of commercial whaling, including the impact of commercial whaling on research, rather than being obsessed with the idea that it is cultural. Furthermore, when we look at whaling as an industry, we should not simply decide to abolish it as long as there are still a few people engaged in it, even if only a few. This made us think about the difficulty and importance of taking into account the multilayered diversity of the various stakeholders involved in the issue.
Yugo Nagasawa, The University of Tokyo, Faculty of Liberal Arts, 2nd year