Dan Goodman - The Japan Times

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Dan Goodman

For Dan Goodman's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 30, 2001

Fish stocks may resolve whaling debate

The International Whaling Commission recently completed its 53rd annual meeting. For the media, highlights included: false accusations of vote buying; the illegal withholding of Iceland's right to vote, decided by a majority when by international law it should not have been a subject for the commission to decide; the rejection of two proposed whale sanctuaries that had no scientific basis and were not needed for conservation; the exaggerated possibility that the abundance of minke whales in the Antarctic may be lower than the 760,000 estimated by the Scientific Committee in 1990; and, a lack of progress toward resumption of the IWC's main task, the regulation of whaling on a sustainable basis.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 4, 2001

Review of U.S. whaling policy in order

Then U.S. President Bill Clinton's decision rejecting import sanctions against Japan for expanding its whale research programs in the Northwest Pacific was conveyed to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate in a letter dated Dec. 29, 2000. It concerned the September certification by the secretary of commerce that Japan's whale research activities "diminish the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission's conservation program."

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 17, 2000

U.S. whaling sanctions smack of hypocrisy

Japan's whale-research vessels are now scheduled to return to port after completing their observations and sampling in the northwestern Pacific. Meanwhile, the United States continues to criticize Japan's research program and threaten trade sanctions. One can't help but suspect that all the antiwhaling rhetoric and the presidential election are related.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 16, 2000

If only Greenpeace told the truth about whaling

On Nov. 9, 1999, Japan's whale research fleet departed for the Antarctic to begin the 13th year of its research program. The research program involves both a sighting survey whose primary purpose is the estimation of trends in abundance, and a sampling component that involves the take of up to 440 minke whales from a population of 760,000 animals. Since the International Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee has calculated that 2,000 minke whales could be harvested from the Antarctic each year for the next 100 years with no risk to the stock, the take of only 440 whales for research purposes is obviously not a conservation issue. Yet Greenpeace has used Japan's whale research program in the Antarctic as a stage for its antiwhaling campaigns that misinform the public for fundraising purposes.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.

The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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