WAKAYAMA — Fishermen in the town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, remain angered by "The Cove," a film depicting their dolphin hunt, as screenings began Saturday in Tokyo and five other cities.
The film, which won this year's Academy Award for best documentary, "ignores the feeling of awe shared by the people (of Taiji) toward cetaceans," a senior official of the local fishery cooperative said in late June.
In this small town of some 3,500, the hunting of whales and dolphins has been a mainstay industry. On a hill overlooking the Pacific stands a cenotaph for whales, where local fishermen pray for their souls in an annual ceremony in April.