"Whaling in Japan"

The oldest written mention of whaling in Japanese records is from Kojiki, the oldest extant Japanese book, which was written in the eighth century. In this book whale meat was eaten by Emperor Jimmu. In Man'yōshū, the word "Whaling" (いさなとり) was frequently used in depicting the ocean or beaches.

Japanese traditional whaling technique was dramatically developed in the 17th century in Taiji, Wakayama. Wada Chubei organized the group hunting system (刺手組) and introduced new handheld harpoon in 1606. Wada Kakuemon, later known as Taiji Kakuemon, invented the whaling net technique called Amitori hou (網取法) and increased the safety and efficiency of whaling.

Whaling has been frequently mentioned in Japanese historical sources. [1]
Whaling history (鯨史稿), Seijun Otsuki, 1808 [2]
Whaling Picture Scroll (鯨絵巻), Jinemon Ikushima, 1665 [3]
Whale Hunt Picture Scroll (捕鯨絵巻), Eikin Hangaya, 1666 [4]
Ogawajima Keigei Wars (小川島鯨鯢合戦), Unknown, 1667 [5]

A dish of whale meat in Japan

Whales have long been a source of food, oil, and crafts' material. A famous Proverb quotes: "There's nothing to throw away from a whale except its voice."

In 1853, a US naval officer Matthew Perry sailed into Edo bay. One of the purposes was to obtain a base for whaling in the north-west Pacific Ocean.

When Norwegian-style modern whaling, based on the use of power-driven vessels and whaling guns, was introduced in the Meiji era, most Japanese fishermen were opposed to the indiscriminate killing of whales, which they regarded as deities of the sea and which helped to corral fish.[citation needed]

In the early 1900s, Japanese whaling techniques developed further and Japanese whalers began turning to the West for modern whaling techniques.[citation needed]

Following the devastation of World War II, food was scarce, consequently whales, being a cheap source of protein, became a larger part of the Japanese post-war diet.

In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) voted on a moratorium on commercial whaling to go into force in 1986. While Japan initially intended to oppose the moratorium, the United States pressured them to comply in turn for continued rights to fish in Alaskan waters. After the US went ahead anyway with excluding all foreign vessels from fishing in US waters, Japan began its research programme in order to one day restart commercial whaling under IWC regulation.[6]

Japan's whale consumption peaked in 1962 at 226,000 tons, then declined steadily until it fell to 15,000 tons in 1985, the year before the commercial whaling ban.[7] Japan has maintained its interest in the resumption of commercial whaling, but has not succeeded in persuading the IWC to lift the ban.

As consumption of fish in Japan has shrunk, Japanese fisheries companies have expanded abroad and started facing pressure from partners and environmental groups. Five large fishing companies transferred their whaling fleet shares to public interest corporations in 2006.[8] In 2007, Kokuyo and Maruha, two of Japan's four larges fishing companies, decided to end their sales of whale meat due to pressure from partners and environmental groups in the US.