Whaling Days
There's an interesting story about contemporary Japanese whaling in today's New York Times. Among other things, the story reveals that Japan's whale-hunting tradition is, in large part, an artifact of its relationship with America. Apparently, while there was some small-scale, traditional whaling in the Land of the Rising Sun prior to its 'opening' to the West, it wasn't until Commodore Perry's mission in the mid-1800s that it started launching far-reaching whaling expeditions in the manner of the American fleet. Even then, the eating of whale only became widespread after WWII, when US occupying forces encouraged the Japanese to consume more of it. Not so long after that, we decided they shouldn't.
The story may be of special interest to me for a couple of reasons: For one thing, I'm descended from whalers. Four great-uncles of mine were born aboard whaling vessels. For another, I lived in Japan briefly, teaching English there after college. I still remember the whale meat wrapped in cellophane at the grocery store and Japanese students who mocked us gaizin for our repulsion at the idea of it.
Turns out, however, that demand for whale meat is in steady decline in Japan, especially among the youth, who have to be enticed to choke it down by stewing the meat in ketchup or disguising it with sweet and sour sauce. So then, why does Japan go to such great lengths to defend its right to whale? "It’s not because Japanese want to eat whale meat," a Japanese policy researcher tells the Times. "It’s because they don’t like being told not to eat it by foreigners." Ahhh.
My own ancestors whaled until quite late in the game -- the last of the Cape Cod whalers. What killed the livelihood for them was not the collapse of whale populations or any moral repugnance at the idea of eating whale meat. Few Americans ever did. It was the oil they were primarily after, for lighting. As I understand it, what killed whaling in America was kerosene, which fed the gas lamps much more cheaply than did spermaceti. Which leaves me to wonder: If the rest of the world had been insisting that they stop killing the whales, would my ancestors have kept at it anyway, out of a mixture of spite and sheer Yankee cussedness? Hard to say for sure, but they might well have. Banzai!
The story may be of special interest to me for a couple of reasons: For one thing, I'm descended from whalers. Four great-uncles of mine were born aboard whaling vessels. For another, I lived in Japan briefly, teaching English there after college. I still remember the whale meat wrapped in cellophane at the grocery store and Japanese students who mocked us gaizin for our repulsion at the idea of it.
Turns out, however, that demand for whale meat is in steady decline in Japan, especially among the youth, who have to be enticed to choke it down by stewing the meat in ketchup or disguising it with sweet and sour sauce. So then, why does Japan go to such great lengths to defend its right to whale? "It’s not because Japanese want to eat whale meat," a Japanese policy researcher tells the Times. "It’s because they don’t like being told not to eat it by foreigners." Ahhh.
My own ancestors whaled until quite late in the game -- the last of the Cape Cod whalers. What killed the livelihood for them was not the collapse of whale populations or any moral repugnance at the idea of eating whale meat. Few Americans ever did. It was the oil they were primarily after, for lighting. As I understand it, what killed whaling in America was kerosene, which fed the gas lamps much more cheaply than did spermaceti. Which leaves me to wonder: If the rest of the world had been insisting that they stop killing the whales, would my ancestors have kept at it anyway, out of a mixture of spite and sheer Yankee cussedness? Hard to say for sure, but they might well have. Banzai!
5 Comments:
.. according to the New York Times... I am leary of them!
Leery. Fair enough.
I don't know why this historical fact was so amazing. We KNOW that Japanese naval technology was far underdeveloped to go out and hunt whales before Commodore Perry came in to force open Japan. The US wanted to have a base of operations in the NE Pacific that wasn't in the hands of European powers. Japan was the only one available.
There are two ways to hunt whales: pursue them or entrap them. Many of the whales the Japanese hunted fell into the second category, since they could corral them into a confined area. However, this was a regional practice, not widespread throughout the country.
It is not surprising (at least to me) that there is so little evidence of whaling in historical Japanese culture prior to Commodore Perry.
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I said "interesting," umlud, not "amazing." Big difference. But, since you know something about it, here's the question I was hinting at: If whaling has become for Japan a way to assert its national identity and thumb its nose at the US, does that mean that confrontational campaigns by Greenpeace, Sea Shephard and others have been counterproductive? And if that's the case, what then would be a better strategy if the desired outcome is an end to whaling? I don't pretend to have the answer. It's an honest question.
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