As most foreigners will be aware, whaling is a hot topic abroad but is not covered as much here in Japan. The common opinion abroad seems to be that all Japanese people eat whale on a regular basis and despite knowing the humpbacks are endangered, couldn’t care less. The Sun, the UK’s best selling newspaper, shouts the headline: “If whales could scream,” with words like “slay”, “hunt” and “slaughter” used repeatedly throughout the article.
A quick search in The Australian newspaper brings up just under 600 articles about whaling in Japan, with PM Yasuo Fukuda accused of “sticking to his scientific story.”
Likewise, the Washington Post has a barrage of anti-whaling articles at least a couple of times a week. The BBC also has a great article on “Understanding Japan’s whaling ethics” – a pretty balanced piece which tries to understand a pro-whalers point of view, more so than any other western article.
All this controversy in the Western media, is damaging Japan’s reputation and giving the image that Japan is deliberately trying to drive endangered species to extinction as a result of pure greed. Yet the Japanese media remain mostly oblivious to the evil glare of the Western eye. If more focus was brought to the issue within Japan, and the public could know exactly what kind of damage its reputation is enduring, anti-whaling sentiment will most likely grow here for the sake of diplomatic relations, if not for any ethical or moral reasons so repeatedly expressed in the West.
The Sun:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/life/article52515.ece
The Australian:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23104064-12377,00.html
The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/NewsSearch?st=whaling+japan&fn=...
The BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7201804...
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Jonah (not verified)
January 30, 2008 - 14:03
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whale recipes
What does whale taste like and how is it eaten? I have lived in Japan a long time but never eaten whale. Where is a good place to go and try it?
Anonymous (not verified)
July 8, 2008 - 02:09
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One restaurant that I know
It is not my habit to eat whale just like the most Japanese.( i am Japanese.)
The last time I had it was 8 years ago in Shibuya, guiding a few Americans saying that they want to try it.
I was long in Tokyo and Saitama, but knew only one restaurant that served whale meat.
It was friday night, so we reserved our seats and hurried on the way.
Our group reached there around 7 oclock, but some seats were not yet taken.
We ordered the cource dish of whale, which later turned out to be a failure. When I tasted the whale bacon, it reminded me of the american novel 'Moby Dick'. And I recognized the reason why the fishermen(hunters) killed so many whales just for oil and didn't eat them.
By the end of the course, we all agreed that the 'Fried Whale' was the best in the course which was also the recommendation by the American GHQ for japanese school cafeteria in the past.
(... but i should say 'fried chiken was much better'.)
When leaving the restaurant, I noticed the most people were having Sashimi of fish and not whale.
The bacon tastes like salty fat just like it looks.
The hotpod ... sorry i don't remember its taste.
The Fried... it tastes like 'fried chiken' that cooked too well(a litter harder and dried).
It was my first experience to have whale except the fried whale I had in my childhood.
The restaurant was between Shibuya-109 and Citibank.