Whaling in Focus

Japan tried for over 30 years to gain approval in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for a commercial whale hunt. But the commission, originally formed to monitor whaling scientifically and provided a forum for discussion about related topics, gradually came to be dominated by countries and environmental groups that opposed whaling at all costs.

In 2019, Japan left the commission and allowed its domestic whaling fleet to begin conducting commercial whaling hunts, the first since 1988.

This page serves as a placeholder for articles about commercial whaling and the IWC featured on Whaling Today.

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  INTERVIEW | Hidehiro Kato: Battle for Science, Sustainability over Politics in the IWC - Part 2 of 2 Read Part 1: INTERVIEW | Hidehiro Kato on Optimism for the Future of Whales In October 2022, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will hold a meeting in Slovenia.  This is the second of two articles based on a conversation with Dr Hidehiro Kato, one of Japan’sContinue Reading

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  INTERVIEW | Hidehiro Kato on Whale Research and Optimism for the Future - Dr Kato naturally hoped that the IWC would act based on the scientific results of the research. But whales had become a totem of the environmental movement.

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  A Lifelong Friend of Whaling: Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in His Own Words - Abe’s legacy included overseeing a dramatic shift in Japan’s whaling policy, from the decision to withdraw from the IWC to the restart of commercial whaling.

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  Japan Whaling Guru: Sustainable Whaling Is the Ideal Option - In the interview, Dr. Ohsumi emphasized that “sustainable whaling” with responsible human management of the whale resources is the ideal option, if one considers the overall issues in the global environment. Discussing Japan’s withdrawal from the IWC, he elaborated on the organization’s future

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  Japan Risks International Legal Trouble As It Resumes Whaling in Its EEZ - Following its withdrawal from the International Whaling Committee (IWC), Japan started having an active commercial whaling industry again starting in July, but only within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

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  Scenes in Kushiro: A Grateful City, a Watching World as Japan Resumes Commercial Whaling - The five whaling boats chugged out into the bumpy waters off of eastern Hokkaido, a tiny armada under gray skies and the gaze of the world.

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  Blanket Ban on Commercial Whaling A Misguided Way of Protecting Species - While they are free to believe that “all whales” should be protected, perhaps what they are actually trying to protect is the fantasy of the symbolic wild animal. If they genuinely intend to protect “endangered species,” then the actions required to do so do not involve a ban on whaling. Science is meant to be utilized to solve real-life problems, not fantasies.

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  Don’t Let the Anti-Whaling Zealots Impose Their Hypocrisy on Japan - The decision to withdraw from the IWC offers Japan a golden opportunity to awaken from its postwar illusions about international organizations. Undoubtedly, Japan will be bombarded with criticism by the anti-whaling countries and radical environmental groups.

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  Untangling the Myth Behind the Whaling Controversy: A Director’s Take - I still remember the taste of hard-to-swallow fried whale meat served in Japanese school lunches. I have no nostalgia for it, but when I come across news that “Japan is doing it again” — committing supposed whale-hunting atrocities — the taste comes back.

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  The Forgotten War of the Whales - Another Antarctic whaling season will soon end, but most in Japan remain unaware of the fierce fight between the conservation ships operated by Sea Shepherd Australia, and Japanese whaling vessels in the icy waters of the southern oceans.