A SHORT CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY
OF WHALING IN JAPAN DURING
THE l 7TH CENTURYBY
THIJS MOL & P.J.H. VAN BREE

By the publications of Mobius (1893), Andrews (1916), Omura et al. (1953),
Budker (1957) and Slijper (1958) it has become known to the Western world thatwhaling and the whaling industry in Japan have an ancient history. In fact, this is
not surprising as this is the case in so many other archipelagoes and coastal localities.
There are world-wide discoveries of whale and dolphin remains in refuse heaps ofprehistoric settlements indicating clearly that the animals were already at those times
important as sources of food.
Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that long prior to the books and articles
cited above, reports in Europe have been made of whale hunting by the inhabitantsof Japan. In 1646 there was published a Dutch book about twelve voyages to theFar East. One part deals with the expedition of " upper-merchant " Hendrick
Hagenaar, who started his trip in 1631 and returned safely in 1638. In several places
short descriptions are given of whales and whaling in Japan. The book is rare, andreading the old Dutch text is rather difficult, so it is useful to quote here a more orless literal translation of the pertinent paragraphs.
Page 5: " On 26th March 1632, we passed the Tropic of Cancer; we saw alarge number of Cachalots or whales, supposing they dreaded a tornado, (we therefore) took in the topsail."Page 90: " On the 3rd of March 1636, we saw a whaling long-boat get holdof a rather (large) fish (whale) entering into the bay (situated) beyond the settlement.
(This one was followed) by nine other vessels, (of) which (the crews) threw a large
number of harpoons at the fish (every time) it surfaced until it at last (became)exhausted (and) bled to death; this provided great pleasure."
Page 156: " These revenues, as well as those from the fisheries at sea, weregiven to the particular Gentlemen of the Majesty (cflocal nobility), the same (appliesto) whaling; and yearly between 200 and 300 specimens are caught; (they) arenot so large as ours, having blubber only 4, 5, 6, or 8 inches thick (but they have)very much meat, which is eaten here."
Much later-in 1786-again a book based on l 7th century logbooks was published in the Netherlands. In this second publication (vol. 9, pages 38-39) we find:"In the beginning of the summer month (cfJune), our men saw the return of
the Japanese boats, which had been on whale hunt. This hunt starts in the wintermonth (cf December) and lasts until the mentioned time. During this period they
Address of the authors:

Zoological Museum, University of Amsterdam, 53 Plantage Middenlaan, Amsterdam-C., the Netherlands.
125

MOLANDVANBREE

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HISTORY OF WHALING127l 7th century book containing a description of whaling in the Far East between 1655
and 165 7. This is the Report of the Embassy of the Dutch East India Company to
the Emperor of China by Joan Nieuhof published in 1665. On pages 158-160, theauthor describes both whales and whaling as follows:"Near the island of Hainan, the Chinese capture whales in the same way as
the Dutch in the North near Greenland, whereof they make oil which serves forseveral uses ".
Next come several paragraphs on the habits of the whales and also on theiranatomy and biology. In this section, it is of great interest that the author mentions " sea spiders ", " sea moss " and " fish " as food for baleen-whales. One whale
was seen which had 40 codfish in its stomach (? Balaenoptera borealis). Furthermore,quite interesting is the description of copulation. It is stated that the whales takeup a vertical position in the water and clasp each other with their flippers (seeNishiwaki & Hayashi, 1950, figs. A3-A6); this position is maintained from half anhour to one hour.
On whaling we find: " The capture of whales happens in this way; as soon as
they spot a whale at sea, they fall (go down) in a sloop, with a harpooner, that being
the one who will strike the fish, in front. Having arrived near the fish, the harpooner shoots (this verb is used in the original text) his harpoon into the whale alongside the head, so that it gets struck. This harpoon is an iron of about three feetlong, sharpened in front, provided with barbs and on the rear part a rope or line isfastened of about two hundred fathoms in length, which lays ready in the boat. Thefish, having been struck with this iron and feeling itself hurt, darts with great force
to the ground (bottom) as the rope is payed out. If it happens that the fish darts
deeper than the rope is long, they must let it slip (let the end go); for if the line should
be fastened to the boat or should the rope catch during the paying out, the whale
would pull the sloop upside down.
Sometimes they fasten to the end of the rope an empty barrel which most of
the time floats or returns (to the surface) and which they follow rowing. Sometimes
it happens the whale makes off with it and they do not see it again. The fish, tossing
about in the deep, becomes after a time powerless, and surfaces, dead or still living,on which the boat again draws near it, and not being dead, they spear it, that means,they stab it, with poles about half as long as lances, which are provided in front withiron points, into the sides, by which they are in danger to be overturned by thewhale; for it strikes so fearfully with its tail and flippers, that the sea becomes as
white as foam. The fish being dead, the blubber is cut off with long knives andafterwards they boil oil from it. When the blubber is cut off the whales, they letthem (the carcasses) drift; whereupon many gulls light on them to scavenge. Andso large are these dead bodies and trunks from which the blubber is cut, that fromafar they look like living whales."In the text of the book by Nieuhof only baleen-whales, dolphins, and killerwhales are mentioned; it is therefore rather strange that in the accompanying illustration a Cachalot or Sperm-Whale clearly shows. Our reproduction is takenfrom the 1665 edition. Later editions such as those of 1670 and 1693 have the added

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HISTORY OF WHALING

129

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