Has Japan been reduced to a nation that readily bows to pressures not only from its overbearing neighbors like China and Russia, but from rogue  international protest groups as well? We are a country incapable of bringing ourselves to fight for our own causes, and thus we will not be able to protect our  national interests.

　　　This effectively was the context of the message the world got on February 18 from Michihiko Kano, the Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, when he announced Japan had been forced to call off this season’s research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean due to persistent and increasingly violent interference from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, headquartered in Washington state, U.S.A.

　　　Violence befalls those who buckle under meekly — time and again, mercilessly. Whatever made the Japanese minister and those around him decide to surrender to a terrorist group which neither constitutes a state nor has set forth a noble cause for mankind? I seriously wonder if they really comprehend the negative effects of the important decision that they so haphazardly made.

　　　While collecting information at the Whaling Section of the Fisheries Agency of the ministry on the situation leading to the cancellation of Japan’s scientific whaling, I learned roughly the following:

　　　“Starting on January 1 this year, Sea Shepherd activists have made a series of unusually fierce attacks on the Japanese research whaling fleet, made up of the mother ship Nisshin Maru and three catcher boats. In each attack, the activists aboard the Sea Shepherd protest boats shot and threw approximately 100 parachute signal flares and bottles of vile-smelling butyric acid on board the Japanese ships. Sea Shepherd activists began their sabotage operations at night, often keeping up their activities four to five hours at a stretch – or sometimes seven to eight hours – to endlessly wear out the crew members of the whaling fleet. One of the Sea Shepherd boats – the Bob Barker – stayed so perilously close to the Nisshin Maru around the clock that it was unable to engage in routine operations.

　　　“The Japanese side initially anticipated that the sabotage would be halted, temporarily at least, when the protest boats ran short of fuel. But that was not  to be the case. The My Steve Irwin, with Sea Shepherd founder and president Paul Watson aboard, swiftly returned to the Antarctic Ocean after refueling in New Zealand. When members of the Japanese fleet realized that their counterparts were far more organized than the years before, they became convinced that there was no workable way to avoid the protests by the activists. They then briefed officials of the Fisheries Agency on the circumstances, and proposed that the agency give up on the research operations that had been expected to last another month.”

　　　Admitting that he “personally questions if it is right for Japan to pull back from research whaling for such reasons,” a high-ranking official of the ministry remarked:

　　　“The obstructive activities of the Sea Shepherd have become extremely ingenious over the years. The more flamboyant their actions have become, the more funds they have managed to obtain from anti-whaling groups, which has made it possible for them to add to their fleet of boats and repeatedly engage in ever more dangerous sabotage operations.

　　　“Meanwhile, the Japanese government has taken the step of putting six Japanese Coast Guard officers aboard the catcher boats. Frankly, however, the law prohibits these officers from taking any effective counter-measures against the saboteurs.”

Dealing with a Rogue Group

　　　Japanese Coast Guard officers are certainly on board. However, their main mission is extremely limited: they are only required to grasp the identities of the saboteurs, and to secure their detention should any of them actually board any of the Japanese ships. Given no order or legal authority to retaliate, these officers are incapable of any action – so long as the saboteurs stay aboard their own ships. Notes the afore-mentioned ministry official:

　　　“With Japanese Coast Guard officers on board, we counted on their presence to constitute some deterrent. For instance, we thought the Sea Shepherd activists would at least be daunted – or be enticed to go a bit easier – by their presence. But nothing of the sort ever took place, as they got increasingly more aggressive.”

　　　I wish to remind the reader here once again that no one is afraid of those who are incapable of taking retaliatory measures when attacked, or do not have any legal authority to make arrests even though in this case those in question are lawless terrorists. Premier Naoto Kan recently made headlines by confessing he knows little about some vital aspects of international finances; it is obvious that he and his DPJ government also know disgustingly little about the harsh reality of international politics.

　　　It is critically vital for a nation to brace itself to deal resolutely with issues such as those brought about by the attacks of the Sea Shepherd. The Japanese government should have worked out effective countermeasures a long time ago by thoroughly analyzing the modus operandi and strategies of the Sea Shepherd, as well as how Japan can most effectively state its case pertaining to scientific whaling to the international community.

　　　If Japan is serious about continuing its research whaling, which the Sea Shepherd has vowed to obstruct to the hilt, then Japan should naturally work out truly effective countermeasures to contain them in the Antarctic Ocean. Otherwise, Japan will always be left with a catch 22. As an example of specific measures, I would propose that the Japanese government prepare a law enabling the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces (JMSDF) to rush to the aid of the whaling fleet in case of emergency.

　　　At present, the JMSDF is engaged in anti-piracy operations off Somalia, based on Japanese anti-piracy law. So, if the law could be partly revised with an addition of the following – that the JMSDF is entitled to secure rightful research of the whaling resources on the high seas by Japanese ships – it would become possible to dispatch JCG and JMSDF ships to the Antarctic Ocean. In that case, however, members of the Sea Shepherd would have to be regarded as terrorists in the same category as pirates. This should not be too difficult a proposition.

　　　Research whaling Japan has conducted since 1987 is a rightful act based on Article 8 of a protocol to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling endorsed by the IWC, which had banned commercial whaling the previous year. There is no denying that the Sea Shepherd has unlawfully obstructed the legitimate operations of the Japanese fleet, endangering the lives of crew members. In this light, the Sea Shepherd activists should duly be recognized as terrorists.

　　　Whether or not to deploy JCG and JMSDF ships in the Antarctic Ocean undoubtedly would attract controversy internationally. However, it is important for Japan to let the international community know that it is dead set on grappling with this question to such an extent. In the international community where national interests reflecting a wide variety of values clash against each other, protection of national interests would be next to impossible unless a nation manifests its position resolutely, backed by a determination to fight it out if and when necessary. In fact, both Canada and Norway were long troubled by obstructions by the Sea Shepherd, but have eventually succeeded in preventing the sabotage effectively through tough measures — capturing the protest boats, apprehending the activists, pressing charges against them, and dealing stringently with the plaintiffs.

For Mankind’s Future

　　　The mistake on the part of the Fisheries Agency, as well as the DPJ, was that they quite innocently allowed the scientific whaling fleet to pull out of port this year in the same fashion as last year, without ever bothering to make these series of mandatory preparations. So the fleet sailed into the Antarctic Ocean  naked and defenseless against the attacks by the Sea Shepherd. When the anticipated situation ensued, the flustered government came up with one excuse after another in a desperate attempt to avoid facing up to the issue. When the Whaling Section of the Fisheries Agency briefed Minister Kano on the situation and reported that further continuation of Japanese whaling on a scientific research basis would be “too dangerous” in view of violent acts of sabotage by the Sea Shepherd, he decided to call off the operation on grounds to which he presumably thought nobody could possibly object – that the life and safety of  crew members was at stake.

　　　But it is difficult to accept this type of decision-making naively – a decision made by politicians and their party that have totally neglected to make the preparations needed prior to taking the ultimate step of calling off the project. Yoshito Umezaki, head of the Association of Fisheries Journalists, is adamant about the DPJ’s decision, calling it “an act of unparalleled shame for a country that is supposed to be under the rule of law.” Umezaki stresses:

　　　“The basic Japanese posture is avoidance of confrontation all the way. Also, the Japanese method of appeal to the international community about the necessity of scientific whaling has unfortunately not outgrown the old argument confined to the need to retain Japan’s traditional food culture. Whale meat is of course important as part of Japan’s culinary tradition. But why can’t we work out a new vision involving the prospects for mankind’s future?”

　　　Noting that whales consume 400 million tons of fish a year, or five times the fish consumption of all of mankind (80 million tons/year), Umezaki observes:

　　　“In 1992, the Scientific Committee of the IWC compiled a report that the number of whales as food resources will be securely maintained, even if 2,000 minke whales were to be hunted annually for the next century. Meanwhile, cattle and poultry, constituting vital protein sources for mankind, suffer serious damage from BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), foot-and-mouth disease, and Bird Influenza. As feed grain for cattle and poultry becomes increasingly scarce, an effective utilization of marine resources becomes all the more important. It is against such a backdrop that Japan engages in scientific whaling. Japan should more confidently make the case for the significance of its whale research, which has been very highly regarded in the world scientific community.”

　　　The DPJ government should bear in mind that it should carry through  thorough whaling-related research, and all politicians and officials concerned should give deeper thought to this matter, before laying bear to the international community again the shamelessly pitiful sight of Japan bowing so helplessly to these lawless terrorists.

(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column no. 450 in the March 3, 2011 issue of The Weekly Shincho.)