Japanese Whale Hunters

Whale hunters ride a wave of criticism

There’s been a storm of criticism in the media over Japan’s decision to resume commercial whaling.

Newspapers and websites claim the decision has no economic or ecological justification.

Yet look carefully and you can see there are political reasons behind the move.

And it does raise the question: are the lives of whales more important than other sea creatures because they are “majestic”?

You can read how the issue has been covered in the international media in this week’s Japan Story blog.


Japan Story’s blog is written by former BBC Tokyo Correspondent Duncan Bartlett. Each week he analyses how Japan’s story is being told to the world through the international media.