1 Down, 128 Million To Go

I have said that the way to end whaling by Japan is not by attacking their whaling ships, or by hurling invectives at them from the far side of the ocean. Neither of these has worked. These actions and words are seen as an imperialistic assault upon their culture and only serve to further entrench the Japanese government's support for whaling. The only voices that pro-whaling politicians will listen to are those of the people of Japan themselves. And to that end, I am heartened to learn that one such voice has now been raised by a former employee of the Taiji dolphin hunt. She was what they call a 'dolphin trainer' and her job was to select the dolphins that would be sold to aquariums. She did this knowing that those she did not pick would be killed and butchered. Now, many years later, after seeing the film 'The Cove', she has spoken out against this barbaric annual slaughter. In her words, (translated from Japanese), "It is just a small group of hardheaded men who continue the practice of dolphin hunting with the excuse of protecting our culture". She added that, "I think it is about time that we Japanese people open our eyes to what we are doing and what the rest of the world is asking of us." Amen! Hers is only one voice out of 128 million, but it is a start. From her lips to God’s ears, and to the ears of those hardheaded men.