Summary

This chapter has provided a history of both global whaling and Japanese whaling, thereby introducing the main actors and issues central to the international dispute over whaling in the twenty-first century. Some of the issues noted above are central to the current climate of large-scale distrust and miscommunication. Acknowledging the dysfunctional nature of the growing schism between anti- and pro-whaling nations, an intersessional IWC meeting was convened in London in March 200842, the purpose of which was not to negotiate the issues that were the fulcra of disagreement within the IWC, but quite simply so that the member states might learn how to communicate with one another once again. This intersessional meeting saw the beginning of a process that became known as the Future of the IWC process whereby, at the miniaturisation recommendation of Ambassador de Soto43 of Peru, several members of the IWC formed a Small Working Group44 (SWG) of 33 members with near equal representation in terms of views, geography and economy, to negotiate the most contentious issues in a more intimate environment (Iliff 2010). However, despite having a Support Group45

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The purpose of this meeting was not to ‘launch into negotiations on substantive issues where major differences among IWC members exist’, because it was decided that it would be ‘more fruitful to take a process-orientated approach and to seek ways to improve how negotiations within the IWC are conducted’ (Draft Agenda for London Intersessional Meeting March 2008 is available at <http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/commission/future/IWC-M08-1.pdf>).

for assistance in the preparation of

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Ambassador de Soto of Peru was one of the three external experts the IWC commissioned to advise the organisation on ways in which it might solve the major disputes between its members. De Soto had 25 years of experience working for the United Nations including having major roles in peace negotiations and an involvement in the process of establishing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (Iliff 2010).

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The Small Working Group consisted of Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Côtes d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Republic of Guinea, France, and Iceland.

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The Support Group contained equitable geographic and socio-economic representation with members from Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, St. Kitts and Nevis, Sweden and the USA all participating.

material, the SWG turned into a microcosm of the IWC, with negotiations not yielding desired solutions. The Future of the IWC process was halted after it was agreed at the IWC meeting in 2010 that a 12 month ‘period of reflection’ was needed during which members were not to discuss the contentious issues of the organisation (namely whaling under special permit via Article VIII.I and commercial whaling under objection).

With the polarization of the IWC, the moratorium is likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future, needing a three-quarter majority to be overturned, and with communications at their worst since the moratorium’s installation, it is clear that different approaches are needed if this international environmental issue is to be resolved and the IWC is to again function effectively.

Within the whaling debate, Japan is the clear pro-whaling protagonist. To address why this may be the case, the next chapter goes ‘back to basics’ and examines the evolution of environmental thought in Japan. Japan’s main religious traditions are examined, with special focus on Buddhism, Shinto and Confucianism and Neo- Confucianism. Discussion focuses upon how these religious beliefs have evolved and how they have shaped modern-day environmental thinking in Japan, with special reference to the current whaling sentiment prevailing in Japan today. The chapter examines closely the work of Ruth Benedict, a social anthropologist and Arne Kalland, a well-known commentator on international environmental politics.

The chapter also examines previous research into Japanese attitudes on whales and whaling. Young Japanese people’s attitudes to the natural environment and whaling issues are prefigured, and the value of studying this cohort in the context of this

research project is demonstrated. The chapter concludes with the objectives of this research, namely to generate greater knowledge and understanding of the attitudes of young Japanese on issues crucial to the resolution of the whaling controversy. To this end, the study aimed to answer the following questions:

1) What are the predictors that formulate the attitudes of young Japanese people on whaling issues?

2) Of these predictors, which make the most significant contribution to the whaling attitudinal model of Japan’s youth?

Chapter 2

Japanese Environmental Thought and Practice,

and its Relevance to Attitudes Towards Whaling

Any attempt to understand the Japanese must begin with their version of what it means to ‘take one’s proper station’. Their reliance upon order and hierarchy and our faith in freedom and equality are poles apart... Japan’s confidence in hierarchy is basic in her whole notion of man’s relation with his fellow man and of man’s relation to the State and it is only by describing some of their national institutions like the family, the State, religious and economic life that it is possible for us to understand their view of life

(Benedict 1946: 43).

In 1944, Ruth Benedict, a cultural anthropologist, was commissioned by the U.S. Government to observe and analyse the Japanese national character, in order to help predict how the Japanese would act in the post-war era. As America planned to rebuild the Japanese state along more liberal democratic lines, there was a need to know how the Japanese would react in the face of defeat in the Second World War, to the changing role of the Emperor, and to the political tutelage of their American occupiers. The resulting report from Benedict’s observations was, at the time, one of the most revealing and detailed accounts of the internal workings of the collective Japanese psyche. Compiled into a work entitled The Chrysanthemum and the Sword

(1946), Benedict stresses that a westerner wanting to learn about the Japanese and understand collective Japanese behaviour should, firstly, stop thinking like a westerner and, secondly, he or she should explore all aspects of Japanese culture and society, no matter how apparently insignificant.

Many observations made by Benedict in her work can be extrapolated to current Japanese attitudes towards whales and whaling policy, thereby assisting the western world to more effectively negotiate international whaling agreements. A large majority of the western world does not currently understand how the Japanese can hunt and kill mammals that most deem awe-inspiring and, therefore, untouchable.

Many wonder why a nation that has Buddhism (particularly Zen) and Shinto as the predominant religious traditions continues to hunt whales. To many it seems incongruous that these two systems of religious belief, in which the relationship between humans and nature is posited as one of harmony and co-existence, can openly tolerate the (frequently long-suffering) deaths of marine mammals.

However, current Japanese behaviour towards whales and whaling is, as this chapter will demonstrate, a product of a combination of historical events, cultural constructs, tenacious social norms and various other components of Japanese life that can seem quite alien to a western sensibility.

This chapter explores various components of Japanese culture, both historical and contemporary. Benedict’s report is examined and is linked to literature examining Japanese religious traditions and belief systems, along with a consideration of Japanese environmental behaviour and values, the latter drawing upon the works of Arne Kalland. The intention is to explicate relevant aspects of the dominant Japanese values paradigm, so that anti-whaling governments will be better equipped to devise policies that conduce towards rebuilding relationships in the forum of international whaling policy, a situation that has evaded the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for three decades.