Japan

Cracks starting to show - Japan's whaling fleet may leave Southern Ocean early

Posted by Willie — 16 February 2011 at 7:46pm - Comments
A Greenpeace boat tries to prevent whaling ship the Nisshin Maru refuelling in t
All rights reserved. Credit: Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac
A Greenpeace boat tries to prevent whaling ship the Nisshin Maru from refuelling in the Southern Ocean, 2008

In this day and age, commercial whaling is out-of-date and should be out-of-the-question. Sadly it isn’t, but maybe the news that the Japanese whaling fleet might be cutting short its stay in the Southern ocean is cause for some optimism.

Article tagged as: japan, southern ocean, whales, whaling

Sayonara, Nagoya: UN biodiversity summit closes

Posted by jamie — 1 November 2010 at 1:47pm - Comments

Nathalie Rey (pictured above briefing journalists) is an Amsterdam-based Oceans Policy Analyst who led Greenpeace's delegation in Nagoya for the CBD. She is the proud mother of two daughters, an avid coffee drinker and a surprised fan of Japanese food.

After two weeks of negotiations, this Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has concluded and not without some last-minute drama. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the contentious issues were left to the last day. Delegates, media and observers were told that the Friday afternoon plenary discussion was to begin at 3pm. That meant that the 197 nations gathered here would have to agree a new Protocol, decide the future of protected areas on land and at sea and sign off on a new Strategic Plan for the CBD all in less than three hours.

For all of you out there who haven't sat through these talks for the past two weeks, I assure you that this seemed like an impossible feat when they announced it on Thursday.

Article tagged as: biodiversity, CBD, japan, marine reserves, oceans

I've got criteria and I'm not afraid to use them!

Posted by jamie — 22 October 2010 at 5:50pm - Comments

Richard Page is an oceans campaigner with Greenpeace International, focusing on marine reserves and polar ecosystems. He currently has the pleasure of attending the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Japan. 

So today is my last day in Nagoya doing my bit to try and make sure that the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) gathers momentum and that governments create a global network of marine reserves.  It is good to be in Japan again - the people of Nagoya seem especially friendly and helpful.

Two years ago, I was lucky enough to visit the Tokyo fish market at Tsukiji with Callum Roberts, the scientist with whom we worked to design the Greenpeace proposal for a global network of marine reserves and Daniel Pauly, who has done much to raise awareness of the dire consequences of overfishing.

Article tagged as: biodiversity, CBD, japan, oceans

Unjust sentence for Tokyo Two

Posted by jamie — 6 September 2010 at 10:12am - Comments

Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, two Greenpeace activists known as the Tokyo Two, exposed widespread corruption in Japan's whaling programme, yet in return, they have been handed a one year suspended prison sentence.

Article tagged as: global, japan, oceans, tokyo two, whales, whaling

Turning Japanese retailers onto sustainable seafood

Posted by Willie — 3 September 2010 at 3:41pm - Comments

Handing out sustainable seafood guides on the streets of Tokyo (c) Sutton-Hibbert/Greenpeace

There's a common comment in this part of the world, often repeated on the internet especially, about sorting out the seafood problem: namely, we have to change minds in Japan.

Whilst it's a simplistic generalisation, there is a lot of truth in that. Seafood is a global commodity and a global problem. The big markets for seafood are (perhaps unsurprisingly) North America, Europe, and Asia.

Article tagged as: bluefin, global, japan, oceans, sustainable seafood, tuna

Tokyo Two: whaling, activism and human rights

Posted by jamie — 3 September 2010 at 10:54am - Comments

Junichi (right) and Toru (left) working on their defence during their trial (c) Sutton-Hibbert/Greenpeace

Two years ago, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki exposed a scandal involving government corruption entrenched within the tax-payer funded Japanese whaling industry. They are on trial for theft and trespass, and are awaiting the verdict due this coming Monday.

This will be the first blog Toru and I have written together, as up until recently our heavy bail restrictions have meant that we could not be in the same room or even talk to each other without a lawyer present.

The verdict in our trial is approaching, and on Monday 6 September we will know what our fate is. We don't really know what the result would be, all we know now is that it is going to show the status of Japanese democracy. It's a long way from where it was when this case started - our investigation  to end Japan's whaling.

Article tagged as: activism, japan, oceans, tokyo two, whales, whaling

Failed whales: status quo remains at IWC

Posted by jamie — 24 June 2010 at 11:45am - Comments

Karli Thomas, Greenpeace oceans campaigner, writes from the IWC meeting in Morocco.

The town of Sidi R'bat on Morocco's Atlantic coast is where the biblical Jonah is said to have been vomited up by a whale. Less than 100km from that spot, something has been going on this week that is again enough to make a whale sick to the stomach.

The International Whaling Commission has been meeting this year beneath a dark cloud of scandal. As delegates descended on the city of Agadir, media headlines exposed Japan 'buying' countries to vote with them - including the accusation that airfares and accommodation for this meeting's acting chairman were paid by Japan. Hardly an auspicious start to a crucial international meeting, nor a good omen for the whales.

Article tagged as: iceland, IWC, japan, norway, oceans, whales, whaling
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