Bringing Whales Ashore

Bringing Whales Ashore
Author: Jakobina K. Arch
Publisher: Weyerhaeuser Environmental Boo
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780295743295

Today, Japan defends its controversial whaling expeditions by invoking tradition--but what was the historical reality? In examining the techniques and impacts of whaling during the Tokugawa period (1603-1868), Jakobina Arch shows that the organized, shore-based whaling that first developed during these years bore little resemblance to modern Japanese whaling. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from whaling ledgers to recipe books and gravestones for fetal whales, she traces how the images of whales and byproducts of commercial whaling were woven into the lives of people throughout Japan. Economically, Pacific Ocean resources were central in supporting the expanding Tokugawa state. In this vivid and nuanced study of how the Japanese people brought whales ashore during the Tokugawa period, Arch makes important contributions to both environmental and Japanese history by connecting Japanese whaling to marine environmental history in the Pacific, including the devastating impact of American whaling in the nineteenth century.

Japanese Whaling and the People Behind It

Japanese Whaling and the People Behind It
Author: Nadzeya Shutava
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 121
Release: 2024-02-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1003853633

This book explores the recent developments in global and Japanese whaling from the viewpoint of the members of the Japanese whaling community, a perspective that is largely neglected and misinterpreted. Japanese whaling has been one of the most contentious issues in global environmental governance in recent years, and Japan is often harshly criticized for its whaling programs. By distinguishing between the different whaling-related actors and their experiences, this book widens our understanding of why whaling programs continue to exist. Rich in ethnographic data, the book includes in-depth interviews with representatives of the Japanese whaling community, from government officials to fishermen, shedding light on what whaling represents, both historically and today. As an ethnographic study of a divisive and controversial subject, this book will appeal to a wide range of students and scholars, including, but not limited to, those interested in Japanese studies, anthropology, political science, and ocean resource management.

Hunting the Hunters

Hunting the Hunters
Author: Laurens de Groot
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2014-01-02
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1472903668

'As the rest of the world stood by and watched, Laurens risked everything to defend these extraordinary mammals from extinction. A truly powerful and inspiring story.' Susan Sarandon Laurens de Groot was a detective for the Dutch police, specializing in organized crime and environmental pollution. He was rapidly promoted through the ranks, but became increasingly disillusioned with failed prosecutions and minimal prison sentences. But although as a detective there was little he could do to stop the truly big criminals, there was a more radical option – direct action, not necessarily within the law. Laurens leaves his job, sells up, travels to Australia and joins Sea Shepherd, an international organization protecting marine wildlife. He soon finds himself in the middle of the war against the Japanese whaling fleet operating in the Antarctic whale sanctuary. As the Japanese hunt whales, Laurens and the Sea Shepherd crews hunt them. Their boats are tiny for the wild Southern Ocean, and as well as dealing with the extreme weather they are repeatedly attacked by the Japanese crews and nearly shipwrecked by ice. On one mission, their boat is rammed, cut in two and sunk by a whaling ship. This is war, with no quarter given. Hunting the Hunters is an action-packed and timely account of one man's extraordinary life, as well as an ongoing battle against a powerful nation determined to get its way no matter the cost. It's an important subject, one that a lot of people care about, and as Laurens tells the story in his own words this is a compelling and insightful book.

Small Cetaceans of Japan

Small Cetaceans of Japan
Author: Toshio Kasuya
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 510
Release: 2017-05-08
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 131539541X

This book summarizes and analyzes the biology, ecology, exploitation and management of small cetaceans in Japan. It describes the various types of cetacean fisheries in Japan and their historical development, the life histories and ecologies of the main species involved, and the history and problems of conservation and management. The data show that in some cases the number of small cetaceans harvested exceed sustainable limits and have led to depletion of populations. The book provides a case study of what can go wrong when the needs of industry and conservation collide. The descriptions of life history and ecology are relevant to issues of conservation and management, not just for cetaceans, but for all fisheries around the world.

Whaling in Japan

Whaling in Japan
Author: Jun Morikawa
Publisher: C Hurst
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: Japan
ISBN: 9781850659846

For years, pro-whaling forces and ardent anti whaling organizations in Japan and abroad have wrestled with a contentious and highly emotive issue, while proponents of whaling have sought to control the parameters of the debate by limiting it to a discussion of catchphrases such as 'sustainable use,' 'Japan's whaling traditions' and 'whale-eating culture'. "Whaling in Japan" seeks to broaden the terms of reference by providing a wider, objective analytic framework for examining this issue and the political actors and forces in Tokyo - the government, the bureaucracy and the Institute of Cetacean research - that create, control and implement Japan's policy and continue to shape the debate. Through the encouragement of political myths, the manipulation of public opinion and ironically, even by using the actions of the anti-whaling movement to its own advantage, pro-whaling forces have created a domestic consensus that allows Tokyo's whaling policies to continue to expand relatively unchallenged even as stockpiles of unsold whale meat build up in Japanese warehouses. "Whaling in Japan" focuses on the gap between the political myths and the reality of Japan's whaling policy and sheds light on seldom discussed aspects of the political and decision-making structures that support it. Morikawa also examines how Japan has used diplomacy and aid gradually to expand international support for its whaling policies at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and considers the longer term future of whaling as environmental awareness grows apace.

Harpoon

Harpoon
Author: Andrew Darby
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2007
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1741764408

This book reveals the political machinations and manipulations at the highest levels to reinstate whaling, particularly in Japan, and traces the history of modern commercial whaling, the industry's determination to ignore reasonable checks and balances, and the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission.

Whale Snow

Whale Snow
Author: Chie Sakakibara
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2020-10-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0816529612

As a mythical creature, the whale has been responsible for many transformations in the world. It is an enchanting being that humans have long felt a connection to. In the contemporary environmental imagination, whales are charismatic megafauna feeding our environmentalism and aspirations for a better and more sustainable future. Using multispecies ethnography, Whale Snow explores how everyday the relatedness of the Iñupiat of Arctic Alaska and the bowhead whale forms and transforms “the human” through their encounters with modernity. Whale Snow shows how the people live in the world that intersects with other beings, how these connections came into being, and, most importantly, how such intimate and intense relations help humans survive the social challenges incurred by climate change. In this time of ecological transition, exploring multispecies relatedness is crucial as it keeps social capacities to adapt relational, elastic, and resilient. In the Arctic, climate, culture, and human resilience are connected through bowhead whaling. In Whale Snow we see how climate change disrupts this ancient practice and, in the process, affects a vital expression of Indigenous sovereignty. Ultimately, though, this book offers a story of hope grounded in multispecies resilience.

This Japanese Life.

This Japanese Life.
Author: Eryk Salvaggio
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2013-07-25
Genre: Americans
ISBN: 9781489596987

Most books about Japan will tell you how to use chopsticks and say "konnichiwa!" Few honestly tackle the existential angst of living in a radically foreign culture. The author, a three-year resident and researcher of Japan, tackles the thousand tiny uncertainties of living abroad. -- Adapted from back cover

The Tourist Trail

The Tourist Trail
Author: John Yunker
Publisher: Ashland Creek Press
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2010-08-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1618220020

"Throughout the book, the passions and sincerity of animal advocates are captured with immense respect…the story becomes unstoppable." — Animal Legal Defense Fund The Tourist Trail is at once a romance, an adventure story, an environmental polemic, and a keen study of just how animalistic humans are. —Phoebe Literary Journal The Tourist Trail will challenge your perceptions of villains and innocent victims, and make you question whose side you’re on as each character grapples with his or her own authenticity, with what’s worth fighting for, and faces the realization that no matter how fast you run, you can never escape from yourself. — IndieReader Throughout the book, the passions and sincerity of animal advocates are captured with immense respect…the story becomes unstoppable. — Animal Legal Defense Fund Biologist Angela Haynes is accustomed to dark, lonely nights as one of the few humans at a penguin research station in Patagonia. She has grown used to the cries of penguins before dawn, to meager supplies and housing, to spending most of her days in one of the most remote regions on earth. What she isn’t used to is strange men washing ashore, which happens one day on her watch. The man won’t tell her his name or where he came from, but Angela, who has a soft spot for strays, tends to him, if for no other reason than to protect her birds and her work. When she later learns why he goes by an alias, why he is a refugee from the law, and why he is a man without a port, she begins to fall in love—and embarks on a journey that takes her deep into Antarctic waters, and even deeper into the emotional territory she thought she’d left behind. Against the backdrop of the Southern Ocean, The Tourist Trail weaves together the stories of Angela as well as FBI agent Robert Porter, dispatched on a mission that unearths a past he would rather keep buried; and Ethan Downes, a computer tech whose love for a passionate animal rights activist draws him into a dangerous mission.

The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins

The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins
Author: Hal Whitehead
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 442
Release: 2015
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0226895319

Drawing on their own research as well as scientific literature including evolutionary biology, animal behavior, ecology, anthropology, psychology and neuroscience, two cetacean biologists submerge themselves in the unique environment in which whales and dolphins live. --Publisher's description.