Whaling In Japan
History
See also: History of whaling
Archeological evidence in the form of whale remains discovered in burial mounds suggests that whales have been consumed in Japan since the Jmon Period. Without the means to engage in active whaling, consumption primarily stemmed from stranded whales. Surviving Ainu folklore reveals a long history of whaling and a spiritual association with whales. The earliest records of hand thrown harpoons date only back to the 12th century.
Inshore Whaling in Taiji, Japan
Organized whaling
Organized open-boat shore whaling began in the 1570s; and continued into the early 20th century. Techniques were dramatically developed in the 17th century in Taiji, Wakayama. Wada Chubei Yorimoto established a fishery by organizing the group hunting system in 1606. Whalers would spot whales from stations along the shore and launch boats to catch them with harpoons and lances. His grandson, Wada Kakuemon Yoriharu, later known as Taiji Kakuemon Yoriharu, invented the whaling net technique called Amitori-shiki ().
Instead of trying to harpoon whales in open water, now twenty or more boats would encircle a whale and make a racket, driving it towards the shallows into nets wielded by a second group of six boats. There harpooners would approach in four boats of their own. The nets made escape more dificult and, in its struggle to escape, the whale tired sooner.
Right whales, humpback whales, fin, minke and gray whales were primarily hunted. Blue whales, sei, Bryde’s and sperm whales were however also taken when possible.
Once ashore, the whale was quickly flensed and divided into its separate parts for various warehouses and further processing. Although the primary use for whales was meat, the entire whale was utilized in a variety of products including lamp oil, soaps, fertilizer, folding fans (baleen), and more. This method of whaling required a significant financial investment from rich individuals to compensate for the sizable labor force. However, whaling remained entwined with ritual and unlike their contemporary European counterparts the early Japanese coastal whalers considered whales a valuable resource and did not over-exploit local stocks.
Modernisation
Norwegian-style modern whaling, based on the use of power-driven vessels, cannons and exploding harpoons, was introduced in the Meiji era largely through the efforts of Juro Oka who is now considered the father of modern Japanese whaling. Oka traveled the world gathering information about whaling practices including to Norway for harpoons, cannons and expertise. He also established the first modern whaling company in Japan in 1899, Nihon Enyo Gyogyo K.K. which took its first whale on February 4, 1900 with a Norwegian gunner, Morten Pedersen.
In the early 20th century, Juro Oka dominated the whale meat market in Japan with assistance and instruction from Norwegian whalers and their leased or purchased ships. Another boost was provided by the capture of a Russian whaling fleet and subsequent transfer to Toyo GyoGyo Co. Ltd. As Japan’s whaling industry expanded into new territory, including Korean waters, ship production and oil processing, Oka’s company (renamed Toyo Hogei K.K.) returned significant profits to its investors which led to increased Japanese competition. Oka later became the first president of the Japan Whaling and Fishing Association, established in 1908.
I am firmly convinced that we shall become one of the greatest whaling nations in the world. The whaling grounds round Korea and Japan offer unlimited possibilities, and should stocks of whales, contrary to expectations, fail in those areas, we have the Sea of Okhotsk and the Berring Sea to the north and we are aware of the great treasure houses to the south. The day will come when we shall hear one morning that whales have been caught in the Arctic and in the evening that whales are being hunted in the Antarctic.
Juro Oka – The father of modern Japanese whaling, 1910
However, at the start of the 20th century local traditions conflicted with modern whaling practices. In 1911 the conflict turned violent in Same Village, Aomori Prefecture. Ocean pollution from the whaling stations, including large quantities of oil and blood runoff, angered the local fishermen and threatened their own fishing grounds. In protest the fishermen burned a Toyo Hogei facility down. The people of the Same region also did not consume whales and considered them sacred.
The League of Nations raised concerns about the over-exploitation of whale stocks (perhaps due to the falling price of whale oil) and called for conservation measures in 1925. This eventually led to the Geneva Convention for the Regulation of Whaling which was presented in 1931 but did not enter into force until 1934 and was completely ignored by Japan and Germany.
Antarctica
Factory ships were not used by Japan until the 1930s. As whale catches diminished in coastal waters, Japan looked to Antarctica. Toyo Hogei K.K. purchased the Norwegian factory ship, Antarctic, renaming it the Tonan Maru in 1934. Refrigerator ships were sent along to freeze and transport the meat back to Japan. By capitalizing on both the meat and oil of whales Japanese industry continued to out-compete other whaling nations. Improvements in technology such as the world’s first diesel-powered catch boat, the Seki Maru, also increased the capacity to take whales. In the years building up to World War II, the Germans purchased whale oil from Japan and both nations used it in preparation for war.
In 1937 London, the International Conference on Whaling, which Japan did not attend, led to additional limits on pelagic whaling in order to prevent excessive exploitation (and specifically the extinction of the Blue whale) creating the International Agreement for the Regulation of Whaling. Regarding voluntary acceptance of restrictions:
This is the more important in that Japan, who has not yet acceded to the 1931 Convention is largely increasing her whaling fleet in the Antarctic…
Regardless of efforts to establish limits, in part due to Japan ignoring an 89 day season limit and continuing for 125 days, a record 45,010 whales were taken in a single season. The Protocol to the International Agreement for the Regulation of Whaling, signed in 1938, established additional restrictions on whaling. Despite the attendance of Japanese representatives, Japan did not sign the agreement and violated it by taking Humpback and undersized whales beginning five weeks prior to the defined start of the season. By 1939 Germany and Japan accounted for 30% of the world’s whale take.
World War II
The Tonan Maru No. 2 whaling factory ship, drafted into military use, damaged by a Dutch submarine while taking part in the landing at Kuching, Borneo.
During the second world war Japan’s whaling was significantly limited to more familiar hunting grounds, such as the Bonin Islands, to provide meat and oil for domestic and military use. Whaling there was halted in March, 1945 when the islands were taken by US forces. However, by November 1945 the whaling stations received permission to reopen. Most whaling ships were commandeered by the Japanese navy and by the end of the war the factory ships and most of the catch boats had been sunk.
General Douglas MacArthur encouraged the surrendered Japan to continue whaling in order to provide a cheap source of meat to starving people (and millions of dollars in oil for the USA and Europe). The Japanese whaling industry quickly recovered as MacArthur authorized two tankers, converted into factory ships (Hashidate Maru and Nisshin Maru), with catcher boats to once again, take blue whales, fins, humpbacks and sperm whales in the Antarctic and elsewhere.
The first post-war expedition was overseen by a US naval officer, Lieutenant David McCracken, and observed by Australian Kenneth Coonan. Coonan expressed disapproval of McCracken in his reports of violated regulations and waste dumped over the side when the fleet began killing whales faster than they could be processed. McCracken even briefly joined in whaling with the Japanese crew of a catch boat and detailed the trip in his 1948 book, Four Months on a Jap Whaler.
The post-war recovery established whale meat as a nation-wide food source for the first time. In 1947 whale meat made up over 50 percent of the meat consumed in Japan. The market significantly increased through commercial sale and public distribution. In 1954, the School Lunch Act also included whale meat in compulsory education (elementary and middle school) to improve the nutrition of Japanese children. However, as economic growth and average income improved, the demand for whale decreased. Other meats became more popular into the 1970s and whale meat was removed from school menus.
ICRW and IWC
Signing the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, Washington, D.C. Dec 2nd, 1946
The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was created in 1946 in Washington to “provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry”. Based on the previous 1937 International Agreement and subsequent Protocols to that agreement in 1938 and 1945, the ICRW led to the 1949 creation of the International Whaling Commission and consists of guidelines for the international regulation of coastal and pelagic whaling. Japan joined the IWC in 1951. (Critics charge that the IWC and ICRW have largely failed due to a lack of enforceable rules and regulatory loopholes)
Japan would later make heavy use of one particular article of the
