Japan and whale hunting

A gentle race. A sophisticated people, polite to a fault. The average person in the street more courteous and better behaved than anywhere else I have been to. Hospitality that would sweep even the most hardened traveler off the feet – a bowed person holding a trash can, standing by the exit of every coach of the bullet trains, only because they had sealed the trashcans inside the coach for safety reasons. Discipline in public life and a level of efficiency pervading almost all aspects of life – the boarding of a Boeing 777 at Narita is like a symphony – that they take pride in. I can go on for some time listing out the fine qualities of present day Japan from my personal experience alone. Even allowing for my personal bias – my career literally started in Japan – it is a place that is sure to bring to bear a positive influence on anyone.

And it is for these exact reasons that every time I come across a headline about their brutal whale hunting expeditions, it strikes a particularly jarring note. It is beyond belief that they are capable of such needless cruelty – whale meat consumption is small and falling although they consume sea food voraciously - even in the face of widespread international condemnation. Lying, allowing their otherwise spot free reputation take a beating, disobeying laws are simply uncharacteristic of Japanese.

Whaling is perhaps the only link that connects modern Japan to their scarred history of the not-so-distant past.

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Shameless plug alert. For your reading pleasure, here are links to previous posts on my experiences in Japan.

1. A hard-earned meal where my musical abilities or the lack thereof are unexpectedly exposed on a rainy night.

2. Drama on ice where a day of skiing results in a nearly broken knee, traumatized parents and a hearty Indian dinner

3. The Shinjuku incident an afternoon of adventure in Tokyo in search of an, what else, Indian restaurant

4. My casual observations on Japan