Thank you all for your contributions to what was (as I thought it would be!) a very lively discussion. I think it is probably correct to say that Westerners are a bit hypocritical in their opposition to whaling, especially the ones who are quite happy to eat meat from animals that have been factory farmed. <\/p>\n
Nevertheless, these right-wing Japanese politicians really frustrate me. Why do they not realise that behaving like a petulant child is a sign of weakness, not a sign of strength? The truth of the matter is that hardly anyone in Japan cares about eating whale meat, so the politicians are just doing it to show that “no one can tell us what to do.” If they were to say, “You know what, we realise that this upsets a lot of people, so we’ve decided to stop doing it,” it wouldn’t look weak at all – quite the opposite, in fact. And Japan’s standing in the international community would go up overnight. That would be real leadership.<\/p>\n
Anyway, my goal this week was to make readers of the blog aware of how strongly Westerners tend to feel about this topic and how much damage Japan does to its international reputation by insisting on continuing to kill whales even though a lot of the meat never even gets eaten. I hope that I was at least able to achieve that aim, even if many of you don’t agree with my opinion. I will try to choose a lighter topic for next week!<\/p>\n
Here is some feedback on your comments:<\/p>\n
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\nThank you.
\n<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m not in favor of killing whales for meat, but I\u2019m not particularly against it, either.
\nNice sentence.
\n<\/strong>
\nfried whale meat was even one of the regular menu in school lunch.
\nfried whale meat was commonly served in school lunches. (“Menu” means the whole list of things that are served, so you cannot say “one of the menu.” A lot of people make this mistake, so I’m going to put it in my book when I update it.)
\n<\/strong>
\nI am also against hunting as leisure.
\nWe usually say “hunting for sport.”
\n<\/strong>
\nTo be honest, I don\u2019t really understand why people from other countries get so emotional about whaling.
\nNice sentence.
\n<\/strong>
\nI think it\u2019s really important for Japanese people to know what other people think.
\nNice sentence.
\n<\/strong>
\nHaving said all this, I\u2019m guessing that the two main reasons why people have strong anti-feelings towards Japan\u2019s whaing is that we are the only country that catches whales in international waters(\u516c\u6d77) and that some kinds of whales are endangered.
\nI think that is a good summary of the problem.
\n<\/strong>
\nAs I mentioned, eating whale meat wasn\u2019t a so unusual thing when I was a child.
\n“… wasn’t so unusual” or “wasn’t such an unusual thing.” (A-Z: so\/such a)
\n<\/strong>
\nI hear royal families enjoy hunting foxes in the UK,
\nThere is only one, so “I hear the<\/em> royal family enjoy hunting foxes in the UK,…”
\n<\/strong>
\nif all the animals expect whales and dolphins extincted from this world,
\nif all the animals except whales and dolphins became extinct, …
\n<\/strong>
\nWhy do we have to pay money for researching whales when many people still don\u2019t have places to live?
\nBecause the government has to pander to right-wing pressure groups, I think.
\n<\/strong>
\nYes, it must be at least more understandable if we killed whales in our own coastal water.
\nYes, it would be more understandable if we killed whales in our own coastal waters.
\n<\/strong>
\nAlthough it\u2019s true that some are bred for food(\u990a\u6b96\u9b5a), but some aren\u2019t same as whales or dolphins
\nRemember that you don’t need “but” if you begin with “although.”
\n<\/strong>
\nPersonally, I am finding it harder to justify eating meat and even dairy products.
\nMe too. I was actually a vegetarian for a couple of years when I was younger. It’s extremely difficult to be a vegetarian in Japan, though.
\n<\/strong>
\nDo you mean that whaling is OK if the way of killing them is not cruel?
\nDo you mean that whaling would be okay if the method of killing them were not cruel?
\n<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s just like we\u2019re trying to cover up the truth(actually, it\u2019s not covered at all), and it is really unfair and dishonest.
\nThat is pretty much how everyone except Japan views it.
\n<\/strong>
\nI guess there is another nasty \u201camakudari\u201d system in this issue, too.
\nAs I have said before, “amakudari” is like a cancer at the heart of Japanese society. If you find anything dishonest, corrupt, or incompetent in Japan, there is usually some “amakudari” involved somewhere. I sincerely believe that Japan cannot be a great country again until this practice is stamped out. I’m ashamed to say that it even happens at my university.
\n<\/strong>
\nIt may be true that all kinds of whales are \u201cnot\u201d being endangered and Japanese researchers don\u2019t catch and kill such endangered whales.
\nIt may be true that not all kinds of whales are endangered, and that Japanese researchers don’t catch or kill the ones that are.
\n<\/strong>
\nBy the way, what \u201cthe whale wasn\u2019t going to leave any young\u201d mean??
\nIt means that you shouldn’t kill whales that have babies who are too young to fend for themselves. If someone dies, we often say, for example, “He leaves a wife and two children.”
\n<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m the one who should apologize!
\nNice sentence.
\n<\/strong>
\nHowever, in many case, most of researches seem unnecessary for many other people, so people should be more careful when they say such things, I think.
\nHowever, in many cases, a lot of research may seem unnecessary to people who don’t really understand it, so we should not be too quick to deem research unnecessary.
\n<\/strong>
\nBecause I think rights are artificial things, thoughts, or concepts,
\nThat’s a very good point.
\n<\/strong>
\nI know a majority rule is always right, but it makes much better decisions than an arbitrary rule.
\nI think it was Winston Churchill who said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” He meant that all systems are bad, but democracy is the “least bad.”
\n<\/strong>
\nso there might be something weird or off the track with my comment.
\nso this comment might seem weird or off-track.
\n<\/strong>
\nhowever, I don\u2019t get why Japan should stop hunting because of the feelings of other countries.
\nNice use of “get” to mean “understand.” Do you all know the expression, “I don’t get it”?
\n<\/strong>
\nAlso, it is done for scientific research.
\nI don’t think anyone believes this. Even the minister didn’t claim that. He just talked about “tradition” and “culture.” By the way, whaling used to be a big part of American culture, too, but of course they don’t do it anymore.
\n<\/strong>
\nIf Japan stops whaling in this situation, many people would think Japan lose diplomatically and international influence of Japan may be going to weaken,
\nIf Japan stopped whaling, many people would think we would lose face and our international influence would weaken. (As I said above, though, I think the exact opposite is true.)
\n<\/strong>
\nWestern people used to killing whales long time ago for its oil, they killed whales only for oil so they threw the rest.
\nWestern people used to kill whales a long time ago for their oil. They just killed the whales, took the oil, and threw the rest of the animal away. (This is very true. Westerners also used to kill elephants, lions, and tigers just for sport! But like whaling, that has been outlawed by the international community now.)
\n<\/strong>
\nWe don\u2019t talk in person on the blog, so it is sometimes more difficult to express what you really want to say. That\u2019s why many members sometimes add Japanese sentence besides English ones.
\nThat’s true. Please feel free to add Japanese if you are not sure whether your English is correct.
\n<\/strong>
\nThat’s all for today. Have a great weekend, and I’ll be back on Monday with a new topic. <\/p>\n