You may have heard that at the end of March the International Court of Justice demanded that Japan stop its so-called "research whaling" since the court determined that the killing of whales by Japan was not being done for any sort of sound scientific reasons, but was really just commercial whaling in disguise. The Australian government, with the backing of New Zealand brought the case to the International Court. They consider it a big victory.
The Japanese government had said they would abide by the ruling and they did; their whaling ships in the Southern Ocean made their way back to Japan. However, CNN reported late last month that Japan ships would resume "research whaling" in the Northwest Pacific. Even though this is a much smaller whaling program, they are still doing what the international Court of Justice ruled against.
I was astonished to read on CNN's website that the Asahi Shimbun took a poll and found that 60% of people they questioned believed that "research whaling should continue." Only 23% said the whale hunt shouldn't be carried on anymore. Do so many Japanese really believe that the research whaling is legitimate? Even when the International Court found that it had no basis in science. I'm confused by this. I would like to see the kinds of questions the Asahi Shimbun asked its readers. I suspect that the questions were worded in a biased way.
Wakatsuki, Y., & Brown, S. (2014, April 25). Japanese whaling fleet set to sail despite recent ruling. . Retrieved May 8, 2014, from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/24/world/asia/japan-whaling/
