On the surface, the indigenous peoples of Alaska continue to engage in whaling activities without any problems. But in actuality, I believe they face many real problems. To date, Japan has continued to support indigenous whaling within the IWC.
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.
Japanese film director Keiko Yagi got the award for Best Director at the 2018 London International Filmmaker Festival for her documentary film ‘Behind THE COVE.’ Ms Yagi produced the film in 2015 to counter The Cove, which received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010.
The town I was supposed to cover was called Taiji. It was the subject of a documentary called The Cove, which was up for an Academy Award. My bosses wanted someone to be there in case it won, to get the town’s side of the story.
Behind the clump of panicked dolphins, a row of Japanese fishing boats and skiffs appeared, the low thump of their engines rolling in on the sea breeze.
![[Mythbusters] White Makes Right When It Comes to Whaling](https://featured.japan-forward.com/whalingtoday/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/12/mythbusters-white-makes-right-when-it-comes-to-whaling-hero.jpg)
Again, there was no mention of Iceland and Norway, even though whaling in their exclusive economic zone is precisely what Japan has said it will do.
After the announcement of Japan’s withdrawal from the IWC, the media in Europe, the United States, and Oceania all criticized Japan with emotion-based arguments presented in the editorials of internationally-renowned newspapers.
It might sound like a regular scene in a normal fishing village, but it wasn’t. The boat was setting off to hunt whales destined for scientific research, and this was the last time it would do so.
