Greenpeace Gets It Right

Over the past two years, Greenpeace has not sent a ship down to the Southern Ocean to interfere with Japanese whaling ships. Instead, they have redirected their efforts to informing the Japanese people about the annual whale slaughter being carried out with the support of their government. According to a study commissioned by Greenpeace, less than 1 in 10 of the Japanese people is aware of whaling and only 1 in 20 eats whale meat. Given these remarkably low figures, it is clear that the best way to stop whaling is to bring the unspeakable acts of the whaling fleet to the attention of the general population. The Japanese Institute for Cetacean Research, which is the organization that perpetrates this butchery under the guise of research, has attempted to cast anti-whaling efforts as an attack on the Japanese nation and its culture. Ironically, the misguided bravery of anti-whaling activists who still sail in harm’s way on the high seas, and the angry invectives hurled at the Japanese people by well-meaning but uninformed foreigners only serve to reinforce this campaign. Heightened public interest and concern will only be achieved by appealing to both the hearts and minds of the Japanese people. And so we say, Good for you, Greenpeace. Good for you!