It has been seven years since the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove thrust a Japanese town’s annual dolphin hunt into the spotlight and brought international condemnation. Now fishermen from the town of Taiji are speaking to the Western media about how they feel they have been wrongly portrayed.
Their voices are emerging just as the usual battle lines are being drawn this week at the International Whaling Commission as it stages its biennial commission meeting in Portoroz, Slovenia.
As the world marks the 70th anniversary of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling and the 30th anniversary of the global ban on commercial whaling, there are nations that fiercely oppose any changes to these agreements, and there are those wanting a relaxation of the rules.
The IWC meetings attract intense interest from environmentalists, not least for the broader conflict with Japan. Despite the ban on commercial whaling, Japan continued what it called a “scientific” whale hunt. It then lost a ruling on the issue at the International Court of Justice in 2014, but continued its hunt this year on a reduced scale only to face renewed criticism.
Dolphins also fall under the IWC mandate, which is where Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen and the fishermen of Taiji, Wakayama prefecture, come into the equation.
There’s a delegation from the coastal Japanese town in Slovenia this week, as they face continued pressure from environmental groups such as Dolphin Project and Earth Island Institute to end an annual dolphin kill the fishermen say is part of a 400-year-old unique culture.
Taiji gained global notoriety in 2009 when The Cove documentary caused a sensation with its footage of the slaughter of the dolphins after they are driven close to the shore and the sea turns red with their blood.
We don’t necessarily want people to agree with what we do. We just want them to hear our voice
— Kazutaka Sangen
But the fishermen remained quiet, even as the film was criticized in some quarters for the singular way in which they were cast.
Seven years later, though, and Taiji mayor Sangen and the fishermen are speaking to the western media about the impact The Cove had, and about how they feel they have been wrongly portrayed.
They realize the weight of public opinion — internationally at least — might be against them, but they want to have their say.
“We don’t necessarily want people to agree with what we do,” Sangen said. “We just want them to hear our voice. Kids in Taiji grow up wanting to be a hunter, a whaler. We never imagined growing up this way was a bad thing.
“But in today’s world we realize showing the slaughtering of any animals is a bad thing. That’s why you never see the slaughter of cows or chickens. We’ve learned and we are trying to understand people’s sensitivities. We are an isolated area and this change in thinking hadn’t reached us until recently. So maybe The Cove was a wake-up call.”
Sangen was among a delegation from Taiji that traveled to the 21st Busan International Film Festival earlier this month, there for the world premiere of A Whale Of A Tale, which featured in the event’s main documentary competition.
Its director — New York-based Japanese filmmaker Megumi Sasaki who was behind the movie titled Herb And Dorothy on art collectors — said she had seen The Cove, and had thought there was more to the story.
“It’s such a powerful film I knew it would affect world views,” said Sasaki. “I totally understand where The Cove comes from, but the world should know there is another voice.
“There was no voice, no information about this rich culture. I knew it was such a touchy and sensitive subject, but I was really frustrated about why nobody on the Japanese side spoke up.”
Sasaki makes considerable effort throughout her film to present both sides of the story, but what becomes increasingly apparent is that while there are rational arguments presented from both sides, there’s no common ground found for discussion.
“I didn’t want to impose my ideas,” she said. “I wanted to present both sides and let the audience think and feel and decide. It’s a very complicated issue. Not accepting another point of view is a dangerous thing, and it’s happening all over the world at the moment. We have to coexist.”
Yoshiharu Kai, head of the Taiji Fishermen’s Union, was also in Busan and has since traveled on to the IWC gathering in Slovenia.
He said the relatively small annual kill — 2,000 dolphins out of the 20,000 allowed annually under Japanese law — and the fact none of the species targeted were on endangered or threatened lists meant the practice was sustainable. More so, they were part of the fabric of Taiji society.
“This is our culture,” said Kai. “We want people to appreciate this and to listen to our side of this story.”
Ericka Norris I think you’ll find that dolphins have been catching fish a lot longer than humans so that idiot of a Taiji fisherman needs to open his eyes and learn a thing or two… ��
This must be the worst BS ever ….. Really !! Let us bring some sanity to this world and end the senseless, blood thirsty horrors that people put onto whales, porpoises, dolphins and other marine and land animals. There is no place any longer in an educated modern era for such abject brutality and savagery! Any government with the remotest responsibility could in good faith endorse such horrors as a culture.
Isn’t it time the planet of humans showed humanity to all life , that includes the planet . Humans are killing all life , are selfs included . We all need to find another way .im against the killing of all kinds . Tradition and culture Is no excuse for the blindness to these animals killing.it must stop
Why is the "culture" always an excuse to do the worst things in the world?
They don’t make money from the slaughter of the dolphins which is why they capture them and sell them to dophinariums etc for a lifetime of cruel captivity. Yes, animals are slaughtered for meat, however, there are laws that prevent them from being killed in front of each other. This is another reason why the dolphin killing is so utterly wrong – I cannot imagine how horrific it must be for these intelligent creatures to see, hear and feel the pain and terror of being killed in a group. Absolutely horrific and unnecessary.
I watched a livestream of a slaughter recently ..some of the dolphin were drown , run over by boats, they threw themselves on rocks in an attempt to escape.
Their treatment before death was sadistic.
No need for additional vits and mins to be honest, ok 😀 Fine and healthy, happy and have good body, only eat plants. No supplements, though don’t peops who eat meat take supplements? Sorry this seems off topic, but it’s not. not really. Love to us for caring here
I am afraid if you want a world with no animal life. Then keep on killing animals for ridiculous reasons. ivory, shark fins, pelts, aquariums, medicine, fashion etc etc the list goes on…….a world with just humans and perhaps odd nature reserves in the sea and land an unnatural world, of humans only. yuk!
Shawn Mason pull your head in. There is no need for meat in the human diet. Protien is protein regardless of it"s source. Plant based protien is exactly the same as animal based protien. As for your other way over the top generalisation, whilst there may be some vegans who feel the need to take supplements, (many meat eaters do so also), all vegans, myself included do not need vitimins or supplements to live healthy. Why do so many peolpe like you who obviously do not understand anothers way feel the need to be so aggressive.
this is the same old tale as those that kill in the faroe islands, "It’s our culture and tradition". If that is the case there is no NEED to kill these animals.
A so called Taiji Fisherman said once, a fully grown Bottlenose Dolphin can consume 40lbs of fish DAILY……this ‘battle of who has the right’…humans or cetacans ??…128 MILLION population of Japan….Indonesia 250 MILLLION population…..China…1.3 BILLION POPULATION….all harvesting from our Oceans…the bigger picture !!!…I feel almost unsustainable………….
why dont they just be honest they are continuing the hunting so they can continue the extremely lucrative capture and selling of dolphins to aquariums
They are not fishermen they are trophy hunters who select and slaughter Dolphins that don’t come up to scratch stop calling them fishermen
That then puts them into perspective.they earn big bucks from creating slavery and shipping cetaceans all over the world that is not a fisherman.
They drive hunt using pipes to damage the sonar qualities of the dolphin and create chaos panic and unbelievable angst.
And they murder them using pithing rods which tortures the heart and soul from intelligent sentient souls more capable in many respects than the murderers.
These Dolphins have methyl mercury PCB’s fire retardants and all manner of other toxins in their bodies so in respect to consuming them are in effect toxic waste
They are beautiful creatures angels if the ocean who can teach us so much Japan denies us that pleasure by murdering them or enslaving them with organisations that know nothing about the Dolphins true qualities.
Their argument has no grounds to stand on in the 22st century. Children these days want to better themselves & not follow in the footsteps of their fathers.
Shawn Mason You are missinformed on this subject. I am vegetarian and have absolutely no need for supplements or vitamins to stay perfectly healthy. I have a ton of energy and good endurance and am perfectly healthy.
It’s really just a lie they hide behind. We all know the drives are fueled by captivity. They say the meat of a dolphin is worth $500-600 whereas the price to sell one to an aquarium can be upwards of $100,000. The albino one they caught, Angel, about two years ago was sold for $250,000. That’s just insane, selfish and barbaric.
Thank you!!!!
la chasse aux dauphins et aux baleines est barbare et criminelle ,les océans souffrent de la surpêche et la disparition des espèces est catastrophique ,la biodiversité est une richesse qui appartient à l’humanité ,quand à vendre des dauphins pour qu’ils vivent toute leur vie en prison c’est tout bonnement dégueulasse,pêcher pour se nourrir ne nécessite pas ce genre d’actions ,
This is not culture. The barbaric, bloody dolphin slaughter started in 1969. And dolphins are not "fish". And people who laugh as they torture and kill dolphins are not "fishermen", they are not even human.
How is capturing innocent dolphins and selling them to live in small ponds and preform for food a 400 year old unique culture?