I'm not sure if this is news for people outside of Australia and japan, but between these two countries it is definitely a heated issue, creating national tension down under and up in the pacific. Stability between the two nations should stay the same in my oppinion. To compeletly sever diplomatic relations over this would seem overkill in my oppinion but we will see.
The scenario basically is as follows: the Japanese whalers are hunting far south of Australia out of their own territorial waters, collecting minke and humpback whales for "research" purposes. Greenpeace and other environmental activists are doing the usual yearly protest of sending down their own ships (one marked as the "irwin" named after Steve Irwin & his animal saving deeds), branded pirate flags and all, to intercept the Japanese fleet in what would seem a way to discourage the Japanese whalers to stop whaling. I don't understand how it would stop them, it hasn't in the past, this perhaps may explain this year's change in methods from the protestors...
Only a few days ago, the Greenpeace fleet had two young men (one new zealander, one Australian) board the Nishin Maru 2. The fairly infamous name of the Japanese whaling ship often broadcast on the local australian television networks.
The pair were instantly detained, tied up and held captive. The heroes became victims. It's quite scary if u take a step back, to be detained is something that reminds me of war time. That would explain the Australian outcry.
Now this is where it's funny for me to view this situation from a different perspective to most people, because i am a rare breed consisting of half jap/aus blood and have strong links with both cutures. I was born in japan, but raised in Australia my whole life, I bare an aussie accent, am a dual citizen and have only white friends with white australian ideals, my dad loves a stubby and to sit in front of the telly. I do make frequent trips to the land of the rising sun however, my other motherland.
I see the move itself by the 2 activists as somewhat stupid because it's not very ideal to board a ship, especially when coming from a ship bearing a pirate flag, and also assuming the Japanese of these ships are of the lesser intelligent of the nation (assumption based on the level of work fishing is socially and mentally) which would result in what i would guess to be a higher level of aggression and representation of the mental contemplation of the men working on the whaling fleet. A sort of subtle hatred toward the Australian protesters whom i also assume have some subtle racism toward the Japanese which would stem from their job also.
It was kind wrong to board the ship so it seems, illegal in most senses, but then are the Japanese being legal in their doings? Technically yes for they are not breaking any laws, but morally speaking, they seem to be lying an awful lot, or covering their behavior under the name of "research". Shipping outside their territory is what seems the be one of the bigger issues. If it was within their water, it would no longer be Australia's problem.
The Japanese are being very stubborn. Whaling really has no proper cause backing it whatsoever. Nobody i met in japan even ate whale, it's only a minority of those "proud" types who eat it because they have to do so in the name of their culture and values and support for Japanese history. A willingniss to not give into international demand is apart of this pride. Most people in the nation would surprisingly to most western belief, want to stop the whaling completely, not only for the good of their nation politically, but because japan is obsessed with all things "cute". whales fall into that category. The japs are often stereotyped as being cruel to animals, but truth be told, they love animals. It saddens me to see that most people perceive them differently, but try going to a country before judging them and then i'll take that crap!
I'm not really going to come to any conclusion in this blog. I am in support of a ceasing in whaling, but that is because i have done the research and study biology in my degree. There are no gains from the activity of whaling. Killing for food is ok in my opinion, every meat eater does it. But when you don't need the meet and the animal in question is endangered, then why slaughter it? Japan can lose so much if they don't cease it as such, besides, whaling is going to cease eventually anyway, why not stop now?
It would sadden me deeply to see relations between my two favourite nations damaged. We have worked so hard to create the international ties. It is stupid for them to be so damaged by whaling, but that's the way it is going to be. I just want the Japanese to start the process towards stopping whaling, and then the Australians to quit the racial hatred following.
Australia is subtly quite racist (you can't tell me it isn't) for i have grown up witnessing it. Funnily not on myself but toward others. But that is another issue all together, and every nation has its problems to fix.
