The orca hunt that took place in 1997 shocked and outraged the world. Japanese embassies around the world received angry protests, and thegovernment and the aquariums in Japan struggled to deal with the constant protest faxes pouring in.
Having to have experienced this, the Japanese government stated thatfrom then on, it would not grant permits unless a thorough evaluation of a properly submitted research proposal was done.

A decade later, however, another plan to catch orcas has arose.
At the end of last year, the mayor of the very same town from ten years ago, Taiji-cho in Wakayama Prefecture, declared its plan to capture more orcas, and this time, they were plannig to capture an entire pod. It is said that they are now working with a prominent cetacean scientist to obtain permit from the Fisheries Agency.

It is known that deminishing a local population of a species could lead to the extinction of the entire species. Orca is registered as a 'threatened spieces` with its ecology still largely unknown. It is obviously against the Treaty on Biodiversity and is a shameful act, if we end up killing a population of such species.

It has been adopted at a Cabinet meeting that the city of Nagoya is to be the 2010 host city for the COP10 ("Tenth Session of the Conference of the Parties" to the Covention on Biological Diversity). The COP10 is a very crucial meeting for prevention of species extinction around the world. Japan is now facing great expectations from the international community, that it would lead the preservation of biological diversity in the future.

Having such meeting in just a few years, Japan should really be sensitive to the movement around the world, and take appropriate actions.
Please, send your voice to the addresses below to let them know we expect our governmet to be responsible:

Contact information:


Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime
Minister of Japan
Public Comment
Form: ( Japanese Only )

Mr.Toshiro Shirasu
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries
Public Comment Form:

( Note that they say they can accept domestic comments )


Fisheries
Agency whaling-section
*English Web Page(Abandoned)
whaling-section@nm.maff.go.jp
Fax:+81 3 3502 0806

Mr. Kazutaka Sangen, Mayor of Taiji
E-mail: taiji@town.taiji.wakayama.jp
Fax: +81 735 59 2801


Mr. Bunmei Ibuki
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
E-mail: voice@mext.go.jp
Fax: +81-3-3597-2757
*Aquariums and Zoos in Japan are under their control.



Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums

Mr.Teruyuki Komiya, Director of JAZA
Fax:+81 3 3837 1231