There are few environmental issues more emotive than the hunting of whales. Although the focus of environmentalists has shifted to other topics in recent times, whaling remains contentious whenever it is brought up. This is understandable considering that, for the first half of the 20th century and into the 1970s, several whale species were hunted to near-extinction. But as crude oil took over from whale oil as the fuel of industry whale populations began making impressive recoveries. Nevertheless, a handful of countries and populations continue to hunt them, much to the chagrin of the rest of the world. Perhaps the most high profile whaling country is Japan. To add to the saga, in 2019 Japan ended about seven decades of membership of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) - the global body responsible for the “management of whaling and conservation of whales”.

There are countless sources providing the anti-whaling point of view, to some of which I will provide links in the podcast description. But comprehensive accounts of the other side of the story are less easy to find. Joji Morishita has been, among many other things, Japan’s Commissioner to the IWC (2013 - 2018) and IWC Chair (2016 - 2018) and I doubt there is any better person in the world to tell Japan’s side of the whaling story. In this fascinating discussion he explains why Japan withdrew from the IWC, and he takes on many of the core arguments against whaling.

Links to resources

• Japan whaling: Why commercial hunts have resumed despite outcry - 2019 BBC overview of the topic
• Japan's Withdrawal from International Whaling Regulation - Book co-authored by Joji in 2023
• Commercial Whaling - International Whaling Commission statements on the whaling moratorium and commercial whaling
• History of Whaling - A chronology of whaling going back to the 9th Century, on the website of the Japan Whaling Association
• Save the Whales - GreenPeace website on whaling
• Reflections on the Future of the International Whaling Commission - The first of a four-part series of articles by Joji

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