IWC/54/OS JSTWA

Wada (Population: ~ 6,000)

Taiji (Population: ~ 3,900)
The totown of Taiji is widely
known aas the birthplace of Japanese large-scale whaling industry.
Japan’s whaling industry, as an industry, is believed to have begun
400 years ago, when the earlycoastal whalers organized to catchright and humpback whales off thispart of the coast.
In 1606, WADA Yorimoto, a manfrom a powerful local family, invented a whaling method that usedhand-held harpoons. In 1675, his
grandson Yoriharu developed awhaling method that used nets.
This method for hunting whales,
using both harpoon and nets,
spread to other parts of Japan’s
Pacific coast and had a great
impact on whaling elsewhere in
Japan.
But in December 1878, thewhaling industry in Taiji suffered
great losses, both people and vessels, during a violent storm. Despite this, however, the strong
bond that had grown over nearly
300 years until then between Taiji
and whaling was never broken.
Once Japan's whaling industry
began modern whaling (in the early
1900s, when Japanese whalersbegan using the Norwegian method), a large number of whalers
from Taiji moved to other whaling
stations elsewhere in eastern Japan or joined whaling expeditions
to the Antarctic. By doing so, they

contributed significantly to spreading traditional whaling culture
throughout Japan. Taiji whalers
used small-type whaling vessels tohunt pilot and other whales in theircoastal waters as well as minke
whales in the northern seas.
Whaling was Taiji's most important industry; it is the main foundation for the town's history and culture. During the peak years ofwhaling, the town’s resident taxes
from those involved in whaling accounted for 80% of the town's revenue. Today, ISONE Iwao and the
Taiji Fisheries Cooperative Association engage in small-type coastal
whaling and catch southern-form
short-finned pilot whales (the quota
is 50 for Wada and Taiji combined)
and 20 Risso’s dolphins annually.

Sincee 1612, whalers havehunteded Baird’s beaked whalesin Minami Boso, the southernpart of Chiba Prefecture. This
community has utilized this particular cetacean species as animportant part of their culture.
For example, tare, a seasoned
and semi-dried Baird's beaked
whale meat, is a local specialitythat community members enjoy
as part of their traditional diet.
The whaling base was firstbuilt in Katsuyama (now Kyonancho) at the entrance of Tokyo
Bay, but it was moved, first, toTateyama, then to Shirahama,next to Chikura, and finally toWada, spreading whaling culture throughout the Minami
Boso region. In this way, the400-hundred year history andculture of whaling of Baird's
beaked whales lives on today.
Small-type whaling opera-

AbashiriAbashshirii (Population: ~ 42,000)

tions based in Wada began in
1948. Until 1987, Wada also hada large-type coastal whaling station from which vessels hunted
for sperm and Bryde's whales.
Today, Gaibo Hogei engages insmall-type whaling. The whalers
are only able to take 26 Baird's
beaked whales and a number ofsouthern-form short-finned pilot
whales (the quota is 50 for
Wada and Taiji combined) off
the shores of Wada.

t
Hako
odate
od
date

Research activities on Baird's beaked
whalesSince
e 1999, small-typewhalers have caught eight
Baird’s beaked whales fromthe Japan Sea each year.

Small-Type Whaling Vessel “Katsumaru” (ISONE Iwao, 1987)

The hishistory of whaling in Abashiri goes backto a tim
time when Okhotsk people utilized cetaceans. The Okhotsk Culture evolved during the
5th to 13thh centuries
centu
in regions that included the
Rebun Island
Islan off the eastern coast of Hokkaido
and Nemuro.
Ne
These people’s livelihoods depended primarily on fishing and hunting for marine
mamm
mammals.
That Okhotsk people engaged in whaling has
been proven conclusively by archaeologists' discovery, in the shell middens of Nemuro's Benten
Island, of tools depicting small whaling boats using harpoons to hunt whales. Likewise, numerous whale bone artifacts believed to date from
Okhotsk Culture period were found in the
Moyoro midden in Abashiri as well. Later, theAinu people also engaged in whaling in various
parts of Hokkaido. During the Edo Period, thefeudal government tried to develop whaling in
Hokkaido using nets.
During the modern era, following the adoptionof the Norwegian method of whaling, a largetype coastal whaling station was built in Abashiri
in 1915. After World War II, to alleviate the foodshortage in Japan, whaling was conducted all
around the coast of Hokkaido, and modern
small-type coastal whaling also began in
Abashiri. Many of the whalers were originallyfrom the older whaling communities in westernJapan, and as they settled here, they helped
pass on Japan’s long history of whaling culture
and tradition in Abashiri.
But because of IWC decisions, the catch quotas for whales gradually fell, and commercial

Moyoro Shell Moundwhaling has been suspended. Most of the whaling bases in Hokkaido have closed down. However, Abashiri is still an active whaling community; there are two whaling operations there —Miyoshi Hogei and Shimomichi Suisan, both
waiting desperately for minke whaling to resume.
Minke whales have always been and are now
abundant in the Sea of Okhotsk, but Japanese
small-type coastal whalers are not allowed tocatch them because of the IWC moratorium.
Miyoshi Hogei and Shimomichi Suisan currently
catch only two Baird’s beaked whales a year in
Abashiri to keep alive the whaling tradition thatthey inherited.

Oshika-Cho Whale Festival

Ayuka
kawa
Ayuk
y k
awa
Ayukaw
awa is part of Oshika-cho (population ~ 5,500), located on tthe tip of the Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture.
Ayukawa’s history of whaling began in the latter part of the
Edo Period when whalers first used nets to hunt whales.
Modern whalin
whaling
halin began soon after with the introduction of
the Norwegianw gian method, and it was after a large-type coastal
whalingaling
g baseb
was built in 1906 that Ayukawaís whaling really
tookk ooff. Many whalers moved to Ayukawa from older whaling
ccommunities in western Japan and settled down here, passiing on their ancestors’ occupation and Japan’s older whaling
traditions to subsequent generations of Ayukawa whalers.
The Ayukawa whalers hunted primarily the sperm whale inlarge-scale coastal whaling operations, but they also hunted
minke whales in small-type coastal operations. The Sanriku
shore was an excellent hunting ground for minke whales; it rivaled that of the Okhotsk Sea and the coast off Kushiro.
Large numbers of minke whales were found in this part of thesea, and they continue to be there today.
The IWC moratorium, however, has suspended the huntingof even a single whale under its management, no matter how

abundant these are, thus preventing small-type coastal
whalers from providing a stable supply of healthy minke
whale meat to their community. The whalers are also suffering serious psychological hardship because the IWC moratorium — entirely unnecessarily in the case of minke whales —is denying them their traditional role of providing this culturally important food to their families and friends.
The town has suffered tremendously from the IWC moratorium: the population continues to drop sharply, and thetown is aging rapidly. To restore balance in this small, remotecommunity, it is essential and urgent that small-type whalersresume their traditional hunt for minke whales. Now, while
they wait and hope for the IWC to lift its quite unnecessary
moratorium on the abundant minkes, T
Toba Hogei, Seiyo
Gyogyo and Nihon Kinkai engage in much-reduced smalltype coastal whaling. Twenty-six Baird’s beaked whales and
50 northern-form short-finned pilot whales are landed in Ayukawa each year — a far cry from the small-type whalers’proud traditions as hunters and community providers.

Japan’s small-type coastal whalers have traditionally hunted whales
sustainably, taking only abundant species under science-based management.
JAPAN SMALL-TYPE WHALING ASSOCIATION
4-5-10-506, Honcho, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0012, Japan
TEL: 03-5385-6121 FAX: 03-5385-6122
URL: http://homepage2.nifty.com/jstwa/ May 2002. Copyright 2002 Japan Small-Type Whaling Association. All rights reserved.

For a long time, Japan’s small-type coastal
whalers hunted primarily minke whales. Before
the International Whaling Commission imposed ablanket moratorium, Japanese whalers caught anaverage of 348 minke whales annually.
Despite the fact that minke whales are not endangered and face no possibility of extinction,
Japan was forced to suspend hunting minke
whales in 1988. Today, under quotas that the Government of Japan sets, small-type whalers cancatch only 180 whales each year — a combinationof Baird’s beaked whales and pilot whales. They
are not allowed to take any of the abundant
minkes.
The Japanese small-type coastal whalers havecontinued to work hard to try to survive and tocontinue at least limited operations while awaiting the resumption of minke whaling. Among themeasures they have taken was to reduce thenumber of operating vessels from nine to five to
cut production costs.
Minke whales have always been and continue
to be abundant. Recently, the number of minke
whales has increased substantially, leading
coastal fishermen to complain that because thesewhales eat huge amounts of fish, the amount offish fishermen can catch has been decreasing.
It is now 15 years since IWC suspended commercial whaling for minkes. But for the smalltype whalers and their communities, and now for
the fishermen too, the resumption of whaling forminke whales remains a desperate hope.

It has been 15 years since the IWC established the blanket
moratorium, forcing Japanese small-type coastal whalers tocease their traditional minke whale whaling. During this time, all
the IWC has done is to give the small-type whalers empty
promises that it will act to resolve their increasingly serious
situation. But all IWC has really done is to look away from thesuffering of the small-type coastal whalers and theircommunities. Could there be a more irresponsible
international organization than the IWC?

Going Around in Circles with the IWC:
Is There an End in Sight?
Japan submitted a plan that would establish asystem to manage the quota once IWC approved an interim catch quota. IWC praised
the plan as being a sound one—and then, yetagain!—rejected the request for the quota itself, not surprisingly leading Japan to believethat the IWC’s promises are hollow.

In 1993, the IWC passed—
d—and has several times reaffd—
ffirmed —a— Resolution
n that states that as a result of the
IWC moratorium requiring the cessation of taking minke
whales, Japanese whalers and their four whaling communities have suffered greatly in terms of employment
and diet, accompanied by stress and local economic
hardships. The Resolutionn also acknowledges the importance of swiftly resolving and improving these cirr
rcumstances. But instead IWC has simply postponed
action—again—
and again!

Despite high hopes after lastyear’s Resolution, IWC once
again rejected the request.

Japan’s request was rejectedagain this year. Instead, IWC
unanimously adopted a Resolution saying it would act“expeditiously” on this request.

1994 • 46th

Voted down

1992 • 44th

Voted down
Vot
Again, a vote took
place and, again,
Japan’s request
was rejected.

Voted down

1995 • 47th
Dublin, Ireland

1996 • 48th
Aberdeen, UK

1997
CBWWS

Glasgow, UKK

Despite recommendations from the Workshop, IWC again voted to reject a quota.

Sendai,ndai, Japa
Japan
10th Requestst

1997 • 49th
Monte
M
o
Carlo,
Mona
onac
naco

Now Japaneseanfishermener
are cocomplaining
ing
aboutt the increased
ed numberr of minke
ke whales
les ccompetingng
with
h ffishermen
m foror fish..

IWC rejected
it again.

Votedd down

11th RequequestVoted dowow
own

1998 • 50th
Muscat, OmanMus
Mu

And again.

1999 • 51st
Reykyavik,
IcelandVote
ted down

Adelaide,
Australia

Noordwijk,
Netherlands

Voted
oted down
Again, IWC made no
decision, and Japan’srequest was postponed
yet another year.

Voted doown
Again, IWC rejected
it—but did again reaffirm the 45th IWC
Resolution?!

2000 • 52nd

1990 • 42ndndd
3rd Request

12th Reqeququest

St. George’s,
Grenada1991 • 43rd

4th Request

Japan’s request fora quota of 50 minke
whales was voted
on for the firsttime—and rejected.

1993 • 45th
Kyoto, Japanpanan5thh R
Request9th Request

Voted downnWorkshop The Workshop reaffirmed the Resolution from the45th IWC [1993] that IWC
shall “expeditiously work” onthis issue.

Puerto Vallarta,
allarta,rta,
Mexicoxico
o6th Request
And again,
Japan’s request
was rejected byvote.

8th Request
7th Request
est

Voted downwn

IWC once more rejected
Japan’s request for a quota. Instead, it decided tohold an intersession Workshop of experts—cultural
anthropologists, scientists.

Voted down
2001 • 53rd
20

1989 • 41st
1st

London, UK

San Diego, US

1988 • 40th
2nd Request
2nAuckland, NZ

Defer
eferredd
eferrJapan requested of the IWC
an interim quota for smalltype whalers, but IWC madeno decision, only postponing
the discussion until the following year.

13h Request

1st Request

DeferredStart

The moratorium on commercial whaling came into effectin Japan, suspending thesmall-type whalers’ traditional take of minke whales.

Voted
down

Isn’t IWC justgoing aroundin circles?

Can Japan
reach her goal
this time?

14th Requestt

Voted down
ownwn

2002 • 54th
Shimonoseki,
Japa
Japan

Approved

Goal
Minke Whalee
Quota

The result was exactly thesame as the preceding year:
IWC rejected Japan’s quota
request, but again reaffirmed
the 45th IWC Resolution?!