Comments on: A whale of a problem http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/ hopping along the corridors of power Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:36:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: tochigi http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11134 tochigi Thu, 02 Feb 2006 08:09:16 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11134 whaling as an issue is almost completely ignored by the mainstream Japanese-language press. try doing a search in the Japanese version of google news for recent articles on whaling. virtually zilch. for example, a search for "Institute of Cetacean Research" and "Greenpeace" (in Japanese) gets five hits: 2 in national dailies, 1 in CNN japan and 2 in local papers. in the English version of google news, the same search yields 319 hits. BTW, the great majority of Japan Times subscribers and readers are native Japanese and not expatriate English speakers. people who work at the Japan Time have told me that. and you see far more Japanese people on trains reading the Japan Times (to improve their English and get a more international perspective than the Japanese-language press) than you see foreigners. the number of native English speakers resident in Japan is just so small compared with the overall population: about 100,000 versus 127 million. under 0.1%... there are five national dailies in Japan: Sankei - ultra-rightwing Mainichi - very right wing Yomiuri - conservative Nikkei - conservative Asahi - centrist the national tv and radio stations are all affiliated with one of these media groups. whaling as an issue is almost completely ignored by the mainstream Japanese-language press. try doing a search in the Japanese version of google news for recent articles on whaling. virtually zilch. for example, a search for “Institute of Cetacean Research” and “Greenpeace” (in Japanese) gets five hits: 2 in national dailies, 1 in CNN japan and 2 in local papers. in the English version of google news, the same search yields 319 hits.

BTW, the great majority of Japan Times subscribers and readers are native Japanese and not expatriate English speakers. people who work at the Japan Time have told me that. and you see far more Japanese people on trains reading the Japan Times (to improve their English and get a more international perspective than the Japanese-language press) than you see foreigners. the number of native English speakers resident in Japan is just so small compared with the overall population: about 100,000 versus 127 million. under 0.1%…

there are five national dailies in Japan:
Sankei - ultra-rightwing
Mainichi - very right wing
Yomiuri - conservative
Nikkei - conservative
Asahi - centrist

the national tv and radio stations are all affiliated with one of these media groups.

]]> By: kiore1 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11122 kiore1 Thu, 02 Feb 2006 05:04:57 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11122 It must be remembered, that the Japan Times, being written in English (not the language of choice for 99.9% of Japanese) is not typical of the Japanese response to events. It is a fairly conservative paper aimed at its readersship, which is residents from the US and other expatriats whose Japanese reading ability is not up to the mark (the large Brazilian community has its own Portugese language paper). I found that the Japanese language press often had a different take on things, especially issues such as the US bases in Okinawa that were opposed by Japanese more than by the English speaking population of Japan. Of course the Japanese language press may also be pro-whaling, but that should not be assumed without actually checking it out. It must be remembered, that the Japan Times, being written in English (not the language of choice for 99.9% of Japanese) is not typical of the Japanese response to events. It is a fairly conservative paper aimed at its readersship, which is residents from the US and other expatriats whose Japanese reading ability is not up to the mark (the large Brazilian community has its own Portugese language paper).

I found that the Japanese language press often had a different take on things, especially issues such as the US bases in Okinawa that were opposed by Japanese more than by the English speaking population of Japan. Of course the Japanese language press may also be pro-whaling, but that should not be assumed without actually checking it out.

]]> By: tochigi http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11109 tochigi Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:01:49 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11109 "...since it does not really make sense for..." Is Adam Smith implying that actions by such and such should have some "sense" behind them? LOL chauvenistic nationalism doesn't make much sense but that doesn't mean it's not prevalent in the of motivations for various actions. “…since it does not really make sense for…”

Is Adam Smith implying that actions by such and such should have some “sense” behind them?

LOL

chauvenistic nationalism doesn’t make much sense but that doesn’t mean it’s not prevalent in the of motivations for various actions.

]]> By: Huskynut http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11102 Huskynut Wed, 01 Feb 2006 00:56:17 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11102 That's scientific as in ballistics testing of harpoons, perhaps..? That’s scientific as in ballistics testing of harpoons, perhaps..?

]]> By: Adam Smith http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11098 Adam Smith Wed, 01 Feb 2006 00:40:44 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11098 Couldn't one argue that since even you consider it 'ludicrous', and since it does not really make sense for the whale meat industry to flood the market, because of the law of diminishing returns.... that maybe it is a "scientific" whaling programme? Couldn’t one argue that since even you consider it ‘ludicrous’, and since it does not really make sense for the whale meat industry to flood the market, because of the law of diminishing returns…. that maybe it is a “scientific” whaling programme?

]]> By: tochigi http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11094 tochigi Tue, 31 Jan 2006 07:29:33 +0000 http://blog.greens.org.nz/2006/01/31/a-whale-of-a-problem/#comment-11094 I recommend the NZ Herald article from 23 January by Claire Harvey, "Japanese schoolkids are having a whale of a time". She rightly points out that most middle-aged Japanese people hate whale meat because they were forced to eat it in school dinners in the 50s and 60s. And the tradition of eating whale meat only applies to a few coastal villages prior to 1945. The simple fact is, there is no great demand for whale meat among Japanese consumers---it is a tiny niche market for people who want to skite about eating something "unusual". The push for whaling is a combination of whale industry interests out for a handout and chauvenistic nationalism on the part of Japan's MAFF and foreign ministry. A lot of Japanese people don't like the anti-whaling protesters because they think Japan is being unfairly picked on---another typical Japanese response of painting yourself as the victim when you are actually the aggressor. I recommend the NZ Herald article from 23 January by Claire Harvey, “Japanese schoolkids are having a whale of a time”. She rightly points out that most middle-aged Japanese people hate whale meat because they were forced to eat it in school dinners in the 50s and 60s. And the tradition of eating whale meat only applies to a few coastal villages prior to 1945.

The simple fact is, there is no great demand for whale meat among Japanese consumers—it is a tiny niche market for people who want to skite about eating something “unusual”. The push for whaling is a combination of whale industry interests out for a handout and chauvenistic nationalism on the part of Japan’s MAFF and foreign ministry.

A lot of Japanese people don’t like the anti-whaling protesters because they think Japan is being unfairly picked on—another typical Japanese response of painting yourself as the victim when you are actually the aggressor.

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