Whales were resources that swam slowly through the sea. Once brought up onto land, their massive bodies were divided and used until there was nothing left.
Artwork made from the baleen of whales has been an integral part of the culture of whaling communities in Japan and around the world, and some examples are introduced here.
Warming waters and the whims of the Kuroshio Current bring new fish and whales to the fishermen at the heart of Japan’s centuries-old whaling culture, and sometimes they turn out to be quite popular.
~~ ~ Interview Series Part 1: A Conversation with YouTuber Asana Mori Asana Mori, a popular YouTuber, is the centerpiece of website Kujira Town‘s first interview in a new series with people who love whales. She shares the best methods of cleaning and preparing seafood such as whale meat andContinue Reading
Tomiji Saito is the Representative Director of the Ayukawa Town Planning Association, which operates Whale Town Oshika. He was born in Ayukawahama, where he still lives and works today. In July 2020, two momentous events converged to highlight the whaling history of the tiny coastal community of Ayukawa that sitsContinue Reading
Hiroshi Katsumata was born in 1962 in Kamogawa City in Chiba Prefecture. He began working at Kamogawa Sea World in 1987, and became Director of Zoological Operations in 2016. He is a former rugby player. Kamogawa Sea World is now celebrating its 50th anniversary. The venue located in Kamogawa inContinue Reading
Jay Alabaster is a Ph.D. student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism in Arizona State University. He currently lives in Taiji, Japan, where he is working on a book and his dissertation. You can find him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/alabasterjay. His email is jay.alabaster(at)asu.edu. It’s September again! Perched onContinue Reading
This is the second of a two-part series on the history of Japanese whaling. Part 1: The Birth of Traditional Whaling in Japan Shigeo Nakazono is a scholar and author engaged in the research of cultural assets and sociology, and curator of the Ikitsuki Island Museum (Shima no Yakata) inContinue Reading
This is the first of a two-part series on the history of Japanese whaling. Part 2: Transition to a Modern Whaling Nation Shigeo Nakazono is a scholar and author engaged in the research of cultural assets and sociology, and curator of the Ikitsuki Island Museum (Shima no Yakata) in Hirado,Continue Reading
I have sided with China and North Korea in the past. I was staying at the Friendship Hotel when I taught in Beijing, then suffering from the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre. I heard that their restaurant was going to serve dog meat. As I went to look atContinue Reading
