According to the Old Testament Book of Jonah, a fellow of the same name was once swallowed by a whale. He then apparently lived inside the whale's stomach for three days before being spat out to live happily ever after. Perhaps it's not a true story. Still, when I went to a whale restaurant in Tokyo this week I was secretly hoping it would be called Jonah's Revenge or perhaps Harpooned. Unfortunately, the owner had more taste and had named it Ganso Kujira-Ya which roughly translates as Original Whale Shop. There weren't even any puns in the menu about having a whale of a time. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since eating whale in Japan is not even slightly taboo. In fact, a person at my apartment block told me that it was part of the cafeteria lunch provided to him at junior high school. This attitude is in stark contrast to most Western countries. In Australia, for example, eating whale is considered almost as heinous as murdering and eating a small child!
Any way, I digress. The whale restaurant I visited had a very traditional Japanese design and featured many old Japanese paintings of people hunting whale. One painting, rather improbably showed a fully-clothed man clinging to the back of a whale in the ocean stabbing it with a spear!
As you can see from the photo of the menu (see below), almost every part of the whale was available to eat. I opted for whale steak then some whale sashimi. Cooked whale is rather like beef but perhaps tastes slightly sweeter. It looks a lot like beef too. In fact, if you weren't told it was whale you could easily mistake it for high quality beef. Whale sashimi, however, seemed like most other fish sashimi I've had.
Eating whale naturally made me reflect upon why so many people in Australia consider whaling to be absolutely abhorrent. Prior to my trip to the whale restaurant, I visited the websites of Greenpeace and the Sea Shepard to read about why whaling is so wrong. Strangely, I found the case against whaling to be utterly unconvincing. In fact, there seems to be a whole list of animals Westerners should stop eating before they order the Japanese to stop eating whale. If you share my curiosity, here are the arguments against whaling.
Whaling is cruel
Apparently, whaling is incredibly cruel. There is no doubt that images of whales being hauled aboard factory vessels then gutted and dissected are shocking but this is only because we are not accustomed to seeing comparable images from abattoirs where the same activities are performed on other animals that we readily eat.
So why is killing a whale crueler than killing any other animal? Anti-whaling advocates point to the use of harpoons and the fact that whales are chased by whalers. Let's first consider the use of harpoons.
A harpoon is no different to catching a fish with a hook and line. For those of you who haven't been on recreational fishing trips, let me explain. Recreational fishing involves a fish swallowing a hook (which embeds somewhere in its throat) then being hauled from the water and clubbed to death. A harpoon is precisely the same: it embeds in the whale allowing it to be hauled from the ocean and killed. The only difference between a fishing hook and a harpoon is that a harpoon is bigger and more humane as it is designed to kill the whale upon impact and is not swallowed by the whale either.
Now let's consider the fact that whales are chased through the ocean before being killed. Whales are chased by whalers simply because they are “free range” animals. This is no different to the average fish which is caught in rivers or oceans. Further, a whale (like any free range animal) has it much better than a battery chicken or factory pig which spends its entire life in squalid captivity. Or how about dairy cattle who are kept lactating for most of the year while their young are slaughtered to make veal? And I haven't even mentioned the live animal trade yet!
Overall, whales are treated far more humanely than many creatures we eat on a daily basis. Have you ever considered how the average fish you eat wound up on your plate? The average fish is killed by being dragged from the ocean in a net then dumped on a ship's deck where it is allowed to slowly suffocate. This is equivalent to slowly strangling a calf or lamb to death. Strangely, quasi-vegetarians (or should I say omnivores with pretensions) often allow themselves to eat fish when this should be the last food you should eat if you are opposed to animal cruelty.
Based on the above, I think that supposed cruelty to whales is no basis for Westerners to order Japanese to stop whaling.
Whales are intelligent
Anti-whaling advocates often point to the fact that whales have large brains. This is true but only because whales are incredibly large and hence have incredibly large versions of every organ. There is in fact no evidence that whales are intelligent. The fact that they seem to beach themselves on a regular basis suggests to me that they may actually be incredibly stupid.
But what if whales were actually intelligent? Should an animal's intelligence determine whether it can be killed or not? Is an animal's life any less valuable because it is not intelligent? Clearly not. Still, let's assume for argument's sake that whales are intelligent and an animal's intelligence should determine whether we eat it or not. It has been proven that pigs are incredibly intelligent creatures. Therefore consumption of pork by Westerners should be banned before we tell the Japanese to stop whaling.
Whale species may become extinct
We are often told that various species of whales are endangered and hence could be hunted to extinction. It is true that some species of whales are endangered. However, any high school debater could tell you that this is not an argument against whaling per se but rather an argument against hunting whales to extinction. Accordingly, if whaling is properly conducted, it is acceptable. The Minke whale is eaten in Japan which is not an endangered species. Blue whales, which are at the greatest threat of extinction, are not hunted.
Whales protect other fish
Some argue that whales protect other species of fish and therefore play an important role in maintaining fish numbers. This is clearly nonsense. The greatest threat to fish numbers is commercial fishing. How could a whale stop a commercial fishing fleet?
Whales are peaceful
Yes, whales are quite peaceful but so is every other animal we eat. Have you ever heard of a lamb going on a shooting spree?! In fact, whales are arguably less peaceful than most animals we consume as they are carnivores whilst cows, sheep, chickens, etc. are herbivores.
Whale watching is more lucrative
Whale watching is apparently a lucrative activity. I don't know how true this is but I will assume it's correct. Still, whale watching and whaling can both be conducted. The species of whale hunted by whalers (being the Minke whale) is not one of the species which is observed during whale watching which focuses on the large species of whale.
If the argument of anti-whaling advocates is that it would be more efficient to divert the resources used for whaling to whale watching, they are being very naive. How likely is it that a whaler from Japan or Norway will suddenly see the error of his ways and decide to convert his whaling vessel into a whale watching tour ship? Not very.
So why are Westerners really opposed to whaling?
After reading the arguments against whaling, I was left wondering why Westerners really are opposed to whaling. The case against it is so unconvincing. Well, I think there are three reasons. Funnily, these three reasons are never referred to by anti-whaling advocates because they are utterly illogical reasons.
Firstly, we are opposed to whaling because images of whaling offends our sensibilities. As stated earlier, whaling is unsightly but it is no more unsightly than the killing, gutting and dissecting of any other animal which we eat.
Secondly, we are opposed to whaling because we have a strange affection towards whales just like we do towards dogs. Westerners like to regard whales as peaceful, kindly animals which we should help and protect whenever they become stranded on a beach or injured by a fishing net. We have a similar emotional attachment to dogs which we regard as “man's best friend.” This is fine but we cannot chastise others for not sharing out feelings towards whales. Others are entitled to regard whales in the same way that we regard chicken, cows and sheep–as another animal we can kill and eat.
Thirdly, we are opposed to whaling because we regard whales as deities in the quasi-religion of environmentalism. It seems to me that environmentalism has become a quasi-religion in the last few decades. Environmentalism offers people a greater good to pursue, a struggle for salvation in the face of global catastrophe, distant places to visit on crusades, an opportunity to measure their behaviour against a moral yardstick, greedy heretics to condemn … etc. It is little surprise that some pursue environmentalism with religious zeal.
Without doubt, the chief deity in the quasi-religion of environmentalism is the whale. We falsely place it on a pedestal saying it is peaceful, super-intelligent, graceful and protective. We pay money to gaze upon it and will rush to its rescue should it require our help. The Giant Panda and African Elephant are arguably lesser deities. It is therefore of no surprise that the followers of this quasi-faith are outraged when some choose to hunt and eat their chief deity.
As we live in the age of religious freedom, I have no qualms with people prescribing to environmentalism as a quasi-religion, but by the same token, such people cannot castigate others for not sharing their beliefs. To do so would be a return to the Middle Ages where we persecuted heretics. If this were allowed, Hindus would have every right to tell Westerners they are vile people for killing and eating cows which are sacred to their religion!
Food for thought
As you can see, my simple trip to a whale restaurant turned out to be quite thought provoking. I would like to conclude by saying that I am not an advocate of whaling but rather an advocate of tolerance and an opponent or hypocrisy and pretension. I grew up in a country where whaling is regarded as wrong but after some careful thought, I have come to reconsider what I previously thought was correct.
Thank you for reading and take care.
Our Man in Japan.
