I find it interesting that as India has just recently announced a total ban on dolphin captivity and recognition of dolphins as ‘non-human persons’ — a title also bestowed on dolphins by scientists due to the growing evidence of cetacean intelligence — a representative of the ICR then claims opposition to captivity is a ‘western’ trend.

Why is it that whenever the subject of whales or dolphins comes up some representative of the Japanese government attempts to frame every objection to exploitation of these animals as a matter of cultural differences? Perhaps, as Jun Morikawa has repeatedly pointed out, this is because corrupt bureaucrats (amakudari) in Japan’s government benefit personally from all of the public funding spent on the whaling industry.

There is absolutely no public benefit derived from keeping dolphins in captivity to perform stupid pet tricks for entertainment and profit of a select few.

In fact, the aquarium industry does not even inform its customers that many dolphins die in captivity at much younger ages than they would reach in a natural environment. Customers are also not shown the horrible slaughter of dolphins in places like Taiji and the Solomon Islands which supply so many animals for the captivity trade. This is a problem that is consistent between western and Japanese businesses that exploit dolphins for entertainment displays.

The documentary film “The Cove”, which attempted to inform people about the dolphin fishery, was obstructed during its production and then obstructed again when it was presented in a feature length release in Japan. This attempt at censorship by both the government of Japan and extreme nationalists should serve as an indication of the measures taken to hide the horrors of the captivity trade from the public.

What’s worse is Japan is clearly not a ‘developing country’. Japan is the third largest economy in the world which uses its considerable power and influence in order to prop up an internationally prohibited whaling industry. Now it seems the same corruption that funds whaling with tax money is involved in the captive exploitation of live dolphins as well.

“The slaughter will begin soon. At Taiji, dolphins will be killed in a horrendous way. Babies will be thrown away in the black waters, far from their mothers and unable to survive. Other will be trained with violence until they die or they obey. Then they will sent to tiny pools for the rest of their short life.

But once again, following M. Seiji Ohsumi, and just like whale hunting, it’s supposed to be a sacred Japanese tradition (or a scientifc research ? It’s not clear), not a Western one !

Oh yes ? What about India that recently banned dolphin captivity ? Is it a Western country ? What about Brazil or Chili, that did the same ? Are they Western countries ? What about amazing discoveries about
cetacean intelligence, social bounds, empathy, or emotional life that Science – which is not Western or Eastern, I hope ! – brought us recently to our knowledge ?

What about “kaluchua”, this important concept of non-human cultures, found by
the great primatologist Kinji Imanishi, when everybody knows whales cultures
are much more sophisticated than those of apes ?

“Torture is not culture”, M. Seiji Ohsumi.
In Belgium, until the 16th century, we were burning “witches” alive,
and it was a great tradition by us. In France, they were cutting the head of
criminals in front of a large audience on a public place until 19th
century. In Papua New Guinea, eating his ennemy’s corpse was
also a great tradtion until the 20th century.
Sometimes, traditions have to change, M. Seiji Ohsumi. Not because of “Western pressure” but because they are cruel and unethical.

Whales and dolphins do not belong to Japan. They belong to themselves. They are sef-aware beings. No matter you are Japanese, American or European, no one has the right to kill ( with a spike in the neck and a 10 minutes long agony) or put in slavery such wonderful and innocent sentient beings. Japan is a fierce country and it deserves to be proud of itself. Everyone in the world admires your art, your poetry, your novels, your technology, your gastronomy and even your old and wise traditions and philosophies.

When they are not bloody.