Japanese Schoolchildren To Get Even More Toxic Dolphin Meat
Reminder: Worldwide Japan Dolphin Day Demonstrations on Sept. 25th

In our eNews last month, we ran a story about Junichiro Yamashita and Hisato Ryono, two city council members from the Japanese whaling town of Taiji who publicly condemned the consumption of mercury-poisoned dolphin meat, especially as it is used in Japan's school lunch programs. After tests done on dolphin meat samples purchased from supermarkets revealed high levels of mercury, the council members said serving dolphin in school cafeterias is like feeding them "toxic waste."

More than a month after beginning their crusade to get dolphin meat removed from Japan's school lunch program, the two council members are outraged that the government continues to endanger children's health by insisting that eating dolphin is safe. In fact, rather than reduce or remove dolphin meat from students' lunches, the government actually plans to increase the amount served in schools. By choosing to ignore scientific evidence and side with the fishing industry for economic reasons, the Japanese government is needlessly putting children's lives at risk.

Yamashita and Ryono also charge that the Japanese media is complicit with the government in suppressing information about the health hazards of eating dolphin meat. One notable exception is the Japan Times, which is one of the few news outlets to report this story. Most others have so far abandoned their journalistic responsibility to expose the truth because they are afraid of criticizing Taiji's drive fisheries, which net huge profits by herding dolphins and whales into shallow bays and harpooning them to death with spears or slashing their throats with machetes.

The fishing village of Taiji, located on the coast of Japan's Kii Peninsula, is considered the birthplace of the country's commercial whaling industry. Despite overwhelming proof that dolphin meat is tainted, the government supports Taiji’s plans to build a $3 million marine mammal slaughterhouse with the aim of popularizing dolphin meat consumption in Japan. Artificially driving up consumer demand by making carcass-processing more "efficient" would greatly increase the number of dolphins and whales killed in the drive fisheries—already over 20,000 a year, about 2,300 of them in Taiji alone.

The longer the Japanese government, media, and fishing industry continue putting profit ahead of people's safety, the greater the risk that the country will suffer another Minamata poisoning epidemic. In the 1950s, over 1,700 Japanese lost their lives to the degenerative neurological disease, which attacks the brain and can cause psychosis, paralysis, coma, and death. Children are more susceptible to mercury poisoning than adults because of their smaller size.

Human industrial interests pollute the ocean, poisoning dolphins' flesh, then brutally massacre these animals and feed their toxic bodies to people. This cycle of deceit, greed, and exploitation is hurting both animals and humans, and it must be broken—beginning with an end to the drive fisheries. Thankfully, there are encouraging signs of change: many Japanese supermarkets have removed dolphin meat from their shelves, and right now, activists around the world are preparing for the annual Japan Dolphin Day on September 25th, when thousands of people will protest outside of Japanese consulates and embassies in their countries. As a member of the Save Japan Dolphins coalition, sponsor and coordinator of Japan Dolphin Day, IDA hopes you will join us.

What You Can Do

- Be a part of Japan Dolphin Day on Tuesday, September 25th, and ask your family and friends to join you. IDA will again hold a protest at the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco, so please be there with us if you will be in the Bay Area (contact melissa@idausa.org for more information). If you live elsewhere, check the listings for Japan Dolphin Day events in other U.S. cities, as well as countries throughout the world. For more information on these events, contact ricobarry@bellsouth.net.

- Print and hand out IDA's flyer for distribution on Japan Dolphin Day.

- If you run or belong to a conservation, animal protection, or consumer health advocacy organization, urge them to take part in Japan Dolphin Day by organizing or attending an event. Call (415) 788-3666 or email marinemammal@earthisland.org for more information.

- Watch a short video about the drive fisheries produced by the Save Japan Dolphins coalition. Be aware that some of the scenes depict graphic slaughter.

Learn more about IDA's efforts to stop the Japanese drive fisheries.