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Prayers for the Whales: Spirituality and Ethics of a Former Whaling Community— Intangible Cultural Heritage for Sustainability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2007

Kumi Kato
Kumi Kato
Affiliation:
School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies, The University of Queensland. Email: k.kato@uq.edu.au
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Abstract

Kayoiura, located at the most easterly point of Omijima Island, Nagato City, Japan, is a small fishing village where community-based coastal whaling took place from late 1600 to early 1900. Today, more than 100 years since the end of whaling, the community maintains a number of cultural properties, both tangible and intangible, dedicated to the spirits of whales, including prayers for the whales given daily by two elderly Buddhist nuns. This article suggests that these cultural properties convey the former whaling community's ethics and spirituality with a strong sense of reciprocity that acknowledges the undeniable human dependency on other lives. It is argued that such spirituality has an important implication for our understanding of sustainability. Whaling is no doubt one of the most contentious issues in today's environmental debates, where divisive arguments collide over a wide range of issues. Although any study on whaling would play a role in the debate, this article's intention is elsewhere: to acknowledge the importance of ethics and spirituality as intangible cultural heritage and their role in sustainability debate.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I would like to acknowledge the generous support provided by Mr. Fujii, director of the Nagato Whale Museum in organizing the fieldwork in Nagato. His passion, willingness, and commitment to the local community provided immense support for this study. I am grateful for the people at Kayoi who accommodated me and shared their knowledge, experiences, and many stories. I am particularly indebted to obii-sama, the Hosen-an nuns, for allowing me to hear the stories of their lives as well as record the sound around Hosen-an, including their prayers. I wish for the safety and prosperity of the people who live with and care for the natural environment and the spirits of all beings.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 14 , Issue 3: Special Issue: Hunting as Heritage , August 2007, pp. 283 - 313
Copyright
© 2007 International Cultural Property Society

INTRODUCTION

1

Yazaki, Anthology of Kaneko Misuzu, 125. Kaneko Misuzu was a children's poet born in Senzaki, Nagato City (1903–1930). Among her 512 poems published, 13 of them have a title related to fishing or whaling, and many others include references to fishing. Significant attention was given to her work when Nagato City celebrated the centenary of her birth and established Kaneko Misuzu Museum in 2004. All poems quoted in this paper are from Yazaki, Anthology of Kaneko Misuzu, and the translations are the author's own.

Kayoiura (Kayoi) is a small fishing village located at the most easterly point of Omijima Island, Nagato City, Japan.2

Omi-jima: Blue Ocean Island. The city of Nagato was originally established in 1954 (including Kayoi), and three towns were amalgamated into Nagato in 2005. Nagato's current population is 22,834 (Nagato City, Data of Nagato). Extensive amalgamation reflects Japan's highly aging and declining population in remote areas (Kaso phenomenon).

Omijima's perimeter is approximately 40 km (14.95 km2) and the Kayoi area approximately 14 km. The island is the third largest in the Japan Sea after Sado and Oki Islands.3

In Japan there are 6366 small islands besides the four main islands.

The current population of Kayoi is 1880 with 654 households, approximately 40% of which are engaged in small-scale fishing and related industries.4

The number of fishing households is 48; motorized boats: 208; fishing business: 176. Many of the privately owned boats are under 5 tons and classified as category 3 boats. Related industries are food processing (mainly dried fish product), net mending, and boat repairing (Nagato City, Data of Nagato, 2005). There is one grocery store and one guest house in Kayoi. The fish products are mostly dried fish and fish cake. Main fish species are squid, bream, yellowtail, sardine, and grunt. Other methods include long-line fishing, fixed shore net fishing, towed net fishing, and free diving.

The Nagato-ohashi Bridge completed in 1969 connects the island with the mainland, where the rest of city is. Before the construction of the bridge, the ferry was the only means of transport to the mainland.

View from Omijima Island.

The island can be circumnavigated by boat in about an hour and a half. Steep cliffs, caves, and various rock formations are visible from the boat, indicating the little agricultural land available on the island. The surrounding area is often dubbed Ocean Alps after the writer Yokoyama Kenzo, who wrote, “Alps are not necessarily on land. They also exist in the ocean. We can call this spectacular scenery Ocean Alps.”5

Yokoyama (1872–1943) traveled through the region from 1915 to 1918 and published “Travelling through Choshu” (Choshu Yuranki) in 1930. Nagato Historic Society, History of Nagato. Available at http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/∼omijima/yokoyama.htm (accessed August 10, 2006).

The region is indeed spectacular and has been designated as the Kita-Nagato Coast Quasi-National Park. The northern part of what is now Yamaguchi Prefecture has been called Choshu-Kitaura (northern coastal area of Choshu Clan) since the reign of the lord Mori until the Meiji Restoration (1868).

CULTURAL PROPERTIES OF KAYOI

Whaling, specifically community-based coastal whaling, began in the Choshu-Kitaura region in 1672, having been initiated by the thirteenth Lord Mori of the Choshu Clan. It was a form of premodern whaling operated by whaling groups (kujira-gumi).6

Defined as koshiki hogei (

, old-style whaling).

In the region 15 whaling groups were initially formed but reduced to the major three:
  1. Kayoi: from 1673
  2. Setourazaki: now Senzaki, from 1672
  3. Kawajiri: from 1698

At that time in Japan, whaling was in operation at four major locations:

  1. Kishu: Taiji, central east Honshu Island
  2. Tosa: Muroto, Shikoku Island
  3. Seikai: Yobuko, Ikutsuki, Kyushu Island
  4. Choshu-Kitaura: the smallest

Whaling groups operated in this region until 1897 when the modern methods began that use various sorts of explosive devices, foremost of which was the Norwegian Method. Setourazaki was the place the first modern whaling company Nihon Enyo Gyogyo (Japan Far Sea Fishery) equipped with the Norwegian Method was established in 1898; however, the transition made the premodern method unviable and the Setourazaki Group dissolved in 1894. The Kawajiri Group followed suit in 1897, as did the Kayoi Group in 1898.

Today, more than 100 years since the end of premodern whaling, the region is scattered with temples, shrines, and monuments related to this particular form of whaling. In Omijima and the Kayoi area in particular, various cultural properties exist, six of which are nominated as important cultural properties:

A whale tomb (Important Historic Sites, National)

The family residence of whaling group head Hayakawa (Important Cultural Properties, National)

A mortuary tablet and funeral register books for whales (Tangible Folk Cultural Properties, Yamaguchi Prefecture)

140 items of whaling equipment (Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties, National)

Whaling songs (Intangible Folk Cultural Properties, Nagato City).

The mortuary tablet and funeral register books are housed in the Kogan-ji Temple, the whaling equipment in the Nagato Whale Museum (Kujira Shiryokan), and the tomb on the hill behind the museum overlooking the bay in the Seian-ji temple ground. The museum, Kogan-ji Temple, and Hayakawa residence are all on the foreshore of Kayoi overlooking Kayoi Bay. Today, the Kogan-ji Temple is central to this fishing community not only for properties regarded as important cultural heritage but because the worship and dedication are part of the community's everyday life. The temple also houses a Jizo statue dedicated to whales.7

Jizo (Ksiti-garbha) in Japanese or Dizang in Chinese translated as earth treasury is a Mahayana Buddhist Bodhisattva, who give unlimited mercy with the earth's power for those who suffer. JAANUS, 2006, http://www.aisf.or.jp/∼jaanus/ (accessed September 25, 2006).

The temple belongs to the Jodoshu, or Pure Land Buddhism, in which the giving of prayers is central to its beliefs.8

Established in 1175 by Honen. One of the major Buddhist sects in Japan. Prayers are nenbutsu: namu amidabutsu (

). It pays homage to Amida, the central deity of the Pure Land sects, Jodo-shu

, and Jodo-shinshu

. It is believed that those who have a deep faith in Amida and repeatedly recite the Namu Amidabutsu can be born into the Pure Land. JAANUS, 2006, http://www.aisf.or.jp/∼jaanus/ (accessed September 25, 2006).

The practice of holding an annual memorial service (eko) dedicated to whales and all sea life is continued at Kogan-ji Temple today in May, providing an opportunity for the community to express their dedication. Also significant is a nunnery, Hosen-an, where giving daily prayers dedicated to the spirits of whales and other sea life has been a practice.

This article presents the cultural properties of the former whaling community as important cultural heritage that expresses spirituality and ethics valued by the current community as their cultural heritage. It is significant that although whaling in the community ceased more than 100 years ago, the importance of the cultural heritage is still evident. The spirituality of the whaling community is communicated and expressed as gratitude, sympathy, and guilt. Thus prayers reflect an ironic but undeniable reality of human dependence on other lives and sympathy for the whale species in particular.

Whaling is no doubt one of the most contentious issues in today's environmental debates, where divisive arguments cover a wide range of issues. Although any study on whaling would play some role in the debate, this article intends to recognize the significance of the spirituality and ethics expressed in the tangible and intangible heritage and acknowledge the vital role this has in our understanding of sustainability.9

Interviews were carried out with nuns and priests at four temples, community members including the head of the whaling museum, members of women's associations, a curator at Kaneko Misuzu Museum, and members of the Society for Whaling Songs.

In doing so, I hope to offer a perspective different from existing divisive debates. Before giving details of cultural properties, the following section presents a discussion on spirituality and sustainability, and a brief outline of whaling in Japan.

SPIRITUALITY AND RECIPROCITY AS IMPORTANT INTANGIBLE HERITAGE FOR SUSTAINABILITY

With a series of landmark events and meetings beginning with the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1972), a global rise in consciousness about sustainability is undeniable.10

Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on Human Environment, 1972; Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, 1973; Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 1992.

Such consciousness clearly calls for an ethical and moral obligation to the well-being of future generations, other species, and the entire ecosystem. At the same time, however, as Low suggests, there has been “a host of conflicting interests and demands whose resolution requires a conception of environmental justice—not least among them the conflict between human interests and those of the rest of nature.”11 The whaling debate is no exception.

My previous work focused on subsistence communities that have maintained sustainable relationships with the natural environment.12

There, I have proposed that the knowledge as well as the ethics toward and the sense of connection with the natural world reflect a spirituality held by communities that enable a sustainable use of natural resources and thus provide valuable insights into a sustainable human nature. However, in this article I wish to build on two points from my previous discussions: Fundamental to this spiritual connection is a sense of reciprocity, and such spirituality may be defined as an intangible cultural heritage critical for sustainability. Intangible cultural heritage, as defined in the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003), means “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills—as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith—that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage.” Such cultural heritage may be articulated as oral traditions and expressions, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, and traditional craftsmanship. Intangible cultural heritage is interactive, dynamic, and cohesive in that it is “transmitted from generation to generation, and is constantly recreated by communities and groups, in response to their environment, their interaction with nature, and their historical conditions of existence.” It also promotes a sense of identity and cultural continuity and thus “its safeguarding promotes, sustains, and develops cultural diversity and human creativity.”13

UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 2003, article 2.

In arguing for a sustainable relationship with the natural world, I propose giving a particular focus to the spirituality expressed in the cultural properties and associated practices, of which one fundamental quality is a sense of reciprocity. Reciprocity, as Abram defines, is “the ceaseless give and take, the flow that moves in two directions” and is “the foundation of any real ethics: give unto others as you would have them give unto you.”14

Abram, “Reciprocity,” 81.

He further suggests that reciprocity would not to be attained if humans remain external to the natural world. I propose here that reciprocity is fundamental in forming a sustainable human–nature relationship; and a reciprocal relationship would contain a quality that is dialogical, sensory/experiential, and place specific.

First, reciprocity contains dialogical quality. Plumwood suggests that spirituality should contain “a certain kind of communicative capacity that recognizes the elements that supports our lives”15

Plumwood, Environmental Culture, 220.

; and the kind of relationship generated is dialogical and communicative: “two-way and two-place, in which you belong to the land as much as the land belongs to you.”16

Plumwood, Environmental Culture, 229–30.

The communicative paradigm suggested is to make “ownership in the essentially narrative terms of naming and interpreting the land, of telling its story in ways that show a deep and loving acquaintance with it and history of dialogical interaction.”17

Plumwood, Environmental Culture, 230.

Such sense of reciprocity may be expressed as a form of offering often through rituals and festivities. Offering, as Booth and Harvey maintain, is “a fair exchange for what had been taken, to maintain the balance. In this way, the idea of reciprocity emerges.”18

Booth and Harvey, “Ties that Bind,” 136.

“For everything that was taken, something had to be offered in return, and the permanent loss of something, such as in the destruction of a species.”19

Booth and Harvey, “Ties that Bind,” 136.

What may be returned to nature by humans may be spiritual rather than material such as care, gratitude, offering, and prayers.

Second, reciprocity contains sensory and experiential quality. Rose, in referring to the Australian indigenous peoples' relationship with their country, writes, “People say that country knows, hears, smells, takes notice, takes care, is sorry or happy. Country is not a generalized or undifferentiated type of place…. Rather, country is a living entity with a yesterday, today, and tomorrow, with a consciousness and a will toward life.”20

Rose, Nourishing Terrains, p. 7.

Interwoven in the country are not only biodiversity, habitat, and ecosystems but also the languages, senses, emotions, and timeless connections to one another. As Abram suggests, “Our bodies have formed themselves in delicate reciprocity with the manifold texture, sounds, and shapes of an animate earth—our eyes have evolved in subtle interaction with other eyes, as our ears are attuned by their very structure to the howling of wolves and honking of geese.”21 Sensory experience is both sensing and responding to the surrounding environment, which in itself is dialogical.

Third, reciprocity contains a place-specific quality, which also overlaps with bioregional concepts.22

In recent years, a sense of connection with “the more than human world” has been actively discussed in human–nature relationships.23

Such connectivity may be articulated by terms such as to live in place, reinhabiting (Taylor “Respect for Nature”; Berg and Dasmann, “Reinhabiting California”), insideness (Relph, “Place and Placelessness”), and sense of place (Clifford).

Achieving connectivity is to be a member of what Leopold calls a “land community” and to maintain genius loci (spirit of place)—an authenticity of a place, an integrity sustained over time.24

Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 204; Norberg-Schulz in Hay, Main Currents in Western Environmental Thoughts, 156.

Connectivity achieved through ongoing interaction may be expressed in forms such as “care, sentiment, concern, warmth, love, and sacredness” and may be seen as a place-based spirituality.25

Seamon in Hay, Main Currents, 157.

Plumwood, in reference to the Australian indigenous culture and their identity, makes the following statement:

Identity is not connected to nature as a general abstract category but to particular areas of land, just as the connection one has to close relatives in highly particularistic and involves special attachments and obligations not held to humankind in general. And in complete contrast to Western views of land and nature as only accidentally related to self and as interchangeable means to human satisfaction, the land is conceptualised as just as essentially related to self as kin are, and its loss many be as deeply grieved for and felt as the death of kin.26

Place-based spirituality may be expressed as a commitment to conservation—to care for and maintain the specific quality of a place.

Reciprocity in Japanese Cultural Context

In the Japanese context, one example of cultural practice that expresses reciprocity through offering is the Buddhist concept of kuyo, a concept central to the spirituality expressed through the cultural properties discussed in this article. Kuyo literally means offering and nurturing in honoring Buddha, deities, and spirits of all beings. Offerings can be in a form of things (flower, food, incense, and candles), prayers, and religious training.27

Two, three, four, five, six, and ten kinds of offerings can be made. Kuyo is translated from Sanskrit puja or pooja (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverence; accessed August 10, 2006) meaning reverence or worship in Hinduism (Encyclopedia of Japanese Folklore Culture, http://www.bankoku-needle.co.jp/japanese/story/kuyou.html/; accessed August 10, 2006).

Kuyo-to or kuyo monuments are seen throughout Japan and may be dedicated to the spirits of all beings, human and nonhuman. Monuments such as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial erected in 1955 are referred to as kuyo monuments. Kuyo-to may also be erected for nonhuman beings (fauna and flora).28

Many fauna examples include bears, monkeys, serow, crayfish, and river fish. Japanese agricultural scientist Sato (Animal Welfare) asserts that hunter-gatherers tend not to discriminate flora, fauna, and its surroundings; and hunters in particular must have an intimate understanding of the entire ecosystem, to which they maintain profound consideration to all beings, including insects and plants that are normally excluded from Western concepts for their low level of suffering.

A fauna example is a monument for rats situated in Shoen-ji Temple, Tokyo (est.1623–1668), erected in 1903 after 2 years of epidemic, during which rats were eradicated because they were thought to be the cause of the disease. A flora example is somoku kuyo-to or a monument for plants and trees. Currently, 95 such monuments are identified in Japan, of which 65 are in Yamagata Prefecture.29

Including the one erected in Nanyo City (1825) designated as the City's Folklore Cultural Property.

Words such as sansen somoku shikkai jbutsu (peaceful rest for all beings: mountains, river, plants, and trees) are inscribed. Kuyo as a ritual is also seen in daily life in Japan and may be carried out for a number of objects, most representative of which are sewing needles.30

Held on February 8 or December 18. Needles are placed in soft objects such as bean curd to give them a rest after hard work.

JAPAN AND WHALING

Whales

The Japanese character for fish

is a pictorial derived from the shape of a fish. As a fish-radical, it combines with other components, creating fish names (e.g., sardine

, salmon

), fish-related terms (e.g., fin

, scales

), and fish dishes such as

and

(sushi), demonstrating that fish and sea products have been an integral part of Japanese diet and thus its culture. This radical is also used to refer broadly to sea life, including sea mammals and cartilaginous fish such as shark

,

dolphin

(

), orca (

), stingray (

), and walrus (

) as well as crocodile (

). The character whale

(kujira) consist of

and

, which means enormous.

31

is 1016 in number. The character is used for capital cities such as Tokyo (

) and Kyoto (

).

The whale most hunted in the coastal area of Japan during the premodern period was right whale or Semi Kujira (

or

, smooth/beautiful back, force/energy) in Japanese. Whales are also referred to as isana or isa, also written as

, a brave fish.

It is generally understood that prehistoric whaling did exist in Japan. Whale bones have been found in archaeological sites and middens, and the small amount at each site suggests opportunistic use of drifting whales rather than an active hunt. One site, however, does possibly suggest an active hunt.32

Tsugume-no-hana Jomon Archaelotical Site, Nagasaki.

An extensive range of tools excavated include scrapers and spearheads similar to those used as harpoons elsewhere for active hunting (e.g., Indonesia).

Isana-tori, or catching of isana, is a symbol for ocean in waka Japanese poetry. In Japan's oldest anthology of poems, Manyo-shu, 12 poems make references to isana-tori.33

Isana (

). Manyo-shu, literally collection of ten thousand leaves, was compiled by a series of compilers, the last of whom is believed to be Otomo no Yakamochi, starting around 600 until the last dated entry of 756.

Although isana may refer to large fish in general including fresh water fish, these poems clearly refer to the ocean; thus isana here are believed to be whales. Novels on whalers include “Isana-tori” (whalers) by Koda Rohan (1867–1947) and “Kujira gami” (whale god) by Uno Koichiro34

The novel received one of Japan's major literary prizes, Akutagawa Prize, in 1986.

(ca. 1934), both of which are believed to have been inspired by a picture scroll of whaling (Isanatori emaki, 1826) now housed in the Ikutsuki-shima Whale Museum in Nagasaki. Two other novels deal with the whaling community of Taiji, Kujira-no emaki by Yoshimura Akira (1978) and Harpoon (1987) by a Welsh writer C. W. Nicol translated as Isana.35

Translated by Murakami in 1993. C. W. Nicol is now is a Japanese citizen and recognized as a conservationist.

Whales clearly have an economic value. As the saying goes, “One whale blesses seven villages.” Records also show that in some regions fishermen regarded whales as a guardian ebisu because whales were known to bring schools of fish (e.g., cod and herrings) into the bay, thus creating a prosperous catch.36

Ebisu (

,

,

,

), also Kotoshiro-nushi-no-kami (

), is one of the Seven Gods of Fortune (shichifukujin), which originated in Japan. Sometimes it is referred to as a brother of Hiruko (

), a sun god.

In those regions, taking of beached whales was a taboo—breach of which would cause a bad catch.37

In 1794 an antiwhaling petition was made for these reasons (Nakazono, The Chronology of Whaling).

Similar belief is seen in other whaling cultures such as that on Futuna Island, Vanuatu, where the touching of a beached whale is a taboo. Many whaling communities worshiped birds such as the albatross as ebisu as the birds indicate the approach of the school of fish often brought by the whales. It is true that whales are included in the fish species but its special status differentiating it from other fish is also clear.

Whaling and Controversy

Today Japan engages in small-type coastal whaling and scientific whaling, both of which are controversial in the international arena. The small-type coastal whaling (STCW, kogata hogei) is defined as “whaling of primarily Minke whales and other small-type cetaceans such as Baird's beaked whale (tsuchi), pilot whales (gondo) and Risso's dolphins (hana-gondo).” Small-type whaling boats are less than 48 feet equipped with a 50-mm harpoon. Operators must register with the Fisheries Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Currently, nine licenses are held (i.e., nine ships) by eight operators (shitei gyogyo—certified fishery); but only five have been in operation since the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium came into effect in 1988 that banned the commercial hunt of Minke, the second smallest among the IWC regulated 13 baleen whales.38

Japan has been requesting a quota of 50 minke whales in the interim until the moratorium is lifted. Before the moratorium, the STCW were taking coastal large-scale whales: humpback (zato), right (semi), and sperm (makko) if they came into the areas (nearing whale, drifting whale).

For the small-scale coastal operators, the taking of only small-type cetaceans became unviable; and thus the five boats are shared as a cost-saving measure and operate in Taiji (Wakayama), Wada (Chiba), Ayukawa (Miyagi), Abashiri (Hokkaido), and Hakodate (Hokkaido, since 1999). Current quota is 54 Baird's beaked whales, 100 pilot whales, and 20 Risso's dolphins. Since 1999 a quota of eight Baird's beaked whales in the Toshima area has been added, and any outstanding quota can be carried forward to the following year. The season is for 7 months between May and November: May to June: pilot whales, Risso's dolphins (Taiji), Baird's beaked (Hakodate); July to August: Baird's beaked whales (Wada, Ayukawa); September: Baird's beaked whales (Abashiri), pilot whales, Risso's dolphins (Taiji); October to November: Pilot whales (Ayukawa).

Scientific whaling under the IWC special permit has been in operation since 1988 following the international moratorium of commercial whaling and is no doubt the most contentious in all the whaling debate.39

In 2005, 1238 whales were caught under special permit: 5 sperm, 100 sei, 50 Baird's, 1053 minke (220 northern, 853 southern), and 10 fin whales.40

The endangered fin whale was added in 2005. Japan plans to increase it to 50 and also hunt up to 50 Humpback whale (vulnerable).

Japan rationalizes the hunt on the ground that data are used “to elucidate the possible competition between whales and fisheries, to understand the trends in abundance of whale resources, to elucidate stock structure, and to monitor the marine environment.”41

The Institute of Cetacean Research, available at http://www.icrwhale.org/ (accessed July 2, 2006).

The government has been unsuccessfully requesting an increase in the take based on sufficient recovery of the stock, interference with fisheries, and cultural continuity.

The whaling controversy extends to a wide range of issues:

Ethics toward other species42

See Singer and Regan, Animal Rights; Lynge, Arctic Wars; Cohen and Regan, Animal Rights Debate.

IWC's Scientific Committee and its evaluation of stock recovery43

See for example, Scheiber, “Historical Memory”; Stoett, The International Politics.

IWC “changing the rules of the game halfway”44

See the Wall Street Journal, June 30, 1992; New York Times, July 7, 1992.

Sustainable harvest of wildlife as an energy- and resource-efficient way of food production45

An antiwhaling stance representing the former whaling nations' “collective guilt46

Integrity and legitimacy of IWC47

Depletion of stock and intergenerational equity48

Question of including whales in the moral community49

Definition of subsistence

In regard to Japanese whaling in particular, controversy focuses on the legitimacy of, and necessity for, the lethal method of scientific whaling, the nature of the science itself, the claimed cultural right to maintain whale meat as essential diet, which is criticized by many, for example as “solipsistic nonsense.”50

On claiming “whale meat as national tradition” it is also argued that the STCW should be qualified as indigenous subsistence whaling. The debate, both generally on whaling and specifically on Japanese whaling, although it intensifies around the annual meeting of the IWC, is stalled. McCurry suggests this may serve the interest of both pro and anti stances, because the IWC meetings provide an annual opportunity for the antiwhaling party to show their genuine concern about the environment, whereas the prowhaling side is able to continue with their hunt.

McKee asserts that a science-based conservation strategy must preclude an emotional or misapplied moral consideration of protectionism in establishing appropriate management for renewable natural resources.51

Protectionists' emotional debates have been criticized for being “less interested in defending animals than in attacking the people who look after them.”52 I agree with Scruton's view that “by pretending animals have rights we are blinded to our responsibility for their well-being” and McKee's opinion that the pure protectionist view can impede development of orderly conservation strategies and policies.53 Protecting whales as “large and beautiful animals”54

Bridgewater, Australian IWC Commissioner, 1991.

and the “largest animals ever seen this planet” is criticized as an “emotional approach”55 and has the danger of leading to skepticism. At the same time, cultural traditions existed and continue to exist in small, coastal community-based whaling, where cultural properties and associated practices are maintained, but not necessarily in large-scale industrial whaling. It is also the case that whale meat cannot be claimed as a national tradition, not comparable for example to eating meat pies in Australia.56

A claim was made by the Japanese government during the IWC meeting in Australia in 2000.

It is a regionally valued resource strongly associated with regional cultural practice.

One view that deserves correction is an assumption that Japan engages in merciless killing because it sees whales as a fish “not deserving of special treatment.”57

Hirata, “Why Japan Supports Whaling,” 144. Hirata offers two reasons for Japan's persistence on whaling: the lack of congruence between the antiwhaling norm and domestic cultural values, and the hegemonic decision-making on this issue by the government agencies.

I wish to do this through an illustration of the whaling-related cultural properties set out in the following text and reiterating the importance of human spirituality and ethics in conflicting human reality often lost in the pro- and antiwhaling debates.

Premodern Whaling in Choshu-Kitaura

The literature related to the historical development and current state of Japanese whaling is numerous both in Japanese and English.58

See works by scholars such as Fukumoti, Nakazono, Kalland, Nakazono, and Freeman.

The history of whaling in Japan has been debated by many researchers. Fukumoto established an early model of five stages:

Stage 1: Bow and arrow method

Stage 2: Handheld harpoon

Stage 3: Net method

Stage 4: Explosive harpoon method (bomb lance)

Stage 5: Norwegian method59

This model was revised by many other researchers.60

That of Nakazono is taken here:

Early period (prehistoric) starting with the Jomon period

Premodern period: starting around 1570 and divided as early (handheld harpooning method), middle (net-harpooning method from 1675–1684 and 1830–1843 when the decline of stock became evident), and late (from 1844–1847 when industry declined seriously)

Modern period (from 1899/1906 when the Norwegian method was introduced)61

Large-type coastal whaling (LTCW) lasted from 1606 (Taiji) for 382 years when the global moratorium of commercial whaling came into effect in 1988.

Whaling is first recorded in Kayoi in 1673 following the establishment of the group Kujira Tsuki-gumi (whale harpooning group) in 1672 with the Okiura group in 1681 and the Kawauchi group in 1698.62

Okiura was a place name and Kawauchi was a shrine in Kawajiri Bay.

The method used was the tsukitori or handheld harpoon, the first form of active whaling as opposed to the passive form of taking drift or beached whales.

Handheld Harpoon Method (Tsukitori)

The earliest record of whaling is the Seikai Keigei-ki, (Western Sea Whaling, 1720), which states that around the central east coast of Japan whales were hunted by 7 to 8 boats using handheld harpoons.63

Whaling groups were called tsuki-gumi or shite-gumi (harpooning group).64

Tsuki refers to

(thrusting with sharp tip); sashite refers to

(harpooner), and gumi or kumi refers to

(groups).

Hazashi was the captain who commanded the ship, and harpooning was the most highly regarded job.65

Hazashi (

,

) each literally mean a person who aims at fins, sits on waves, and thrusts with knife. It refers to those who harpoon, jump on whales, and tie rope (hanakiri, or nose cutting). In some regions hanakiri was done by young apprentices or sashi-suifu (

, thrusting sea-man). Apprentices typically started as a taki (cook).

With handheld harpoons, at the moment of the strike, the harpooner leaps from the bow of the boat and drives the harpoon deep into the whale. The whale fishery was overseen by a number of village clans; usually, each clan owned one boat, and each member of that clan owned a share of the boat. Whatever was successfully harvested from that boat (fish, whales, etc.) was divided among these shareholders and the crew. Whale meat and fish was traded with other groups for vegetables and grains not available on the coast, and some was sold at local markets. The middle of the seventeenth century was the peak of hand-harpooning, when 73 whalers were in operation in the western sea alone. The Western Sea Whaling records the serious decline of stock, speculating its cause to be the fact that almost 70% of the whales struck got away but eventually died from the wound and suggesting that the nature of handheld harpooning whaling was unviable. Thus it was commonly said, “Out of 10 years' operation, only 3 is profitable.”

Net-harpoon whaling (circa 1675)

It is generally believed that Taiji in Wakayama is the birthplace of the net-harpoon whaling method (1677), spreading gradually to the western regions. With this method, nets were thrown to slow and weaken the whale being chased and driven toward the shore. The documents held by local whaling family Hayakawa in Kayoi shows that a whaler Hayakawa Seibei devised a net method using O-plant between 1672and 1673 having realized that the straw ropes initially used were too weak.66

O-plant (

) means karamushi or Chinese silk plant (Boehmerid nivea).

Whaling using this method was first conducted in 1677 by Oami-gumi (O-net group) formed that year. Today a replica of O-ami is kept in the Hayakawa residence, a National Important Cultural Property nominated in 1974.67

Nationally, only two private residences related to fishing are listed as National Important Cultural Property. The other is the house of a herring fisher Sasanami Residence in Hokkaido built in the early nineteenth century (nominated in 1993).

The Hayakawa family maintains their active involvement in promotion of the whaling culture, including promotion of whaling songs by initiating a Society for Kayoi Whaling Songs, whose members teach at the local primary and secondary schools. The group of students now perform at the annual whale festival (July 21).

Transition to modern whaling (1899)

Nihon Toyo Gyogyo formed in Senzaki in 1899 and was the beginning of modern whaling (Norwegian method). Their ship Choshu-maru caught the first whale (fin) in the Korean sea, but the ship was wrecked in 1902. The company changed its name several times to Toyo Gyogyo in 1905 after acquiring a Russian ship during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5), Toyo Hogei in 1909, and Nihon Hogei (1934). In 1937 it became a whaling division within Nihon Suisan (Nissui) founded in 1911, and the ship Tonan-maru was launched for its first Antarctic whaling. Japan's overseas stations included South Georgia Island (1963–1967), Newfoundland (1966–1967), Brazil (1959–1976), Canada (1966–1967), Taiwan, Chile (1963–1968), Peru (1967–78). The LTCW continued for 382 years from its conception in Taiji in 1606 until the global moratorium on commercial whaling came into effect in 1988. The seven fleets that went to Antarctic in 1964 and 1965 were reduced to three or four between 1968 and 1975. In 1975 11 LTCW ships and 8 STCW ships were in operation. The three major whaling companies went through a substantial restructuring between 1975 and 1976, merging to form the single company Nihon Kyodo Hogei, which sent one fleet to the Antarctica. The year 1977 saw a further reduction of the IWC quota. The company was dissolved in 1987 when Japan terminated commercial whaling; and it was renamed as Nihon Kyodo Senpaku (Kyodo Senpaku) in 1988, which now conducts scientific whaling.68

The Institute of Cetacean Research conducts scientific research overseen by the Fisheries Agency of Japan.

WHALING-RELATED CULTURAL PROPERTIES

This section gives details of those cultural properties summarized in Table 1.

Summary of the Cultural Properties in Kayoi (from Cultural Heritage On-line, Cultural Agency, 2006)

PROPERTIES AT THE KOGAN-JI TEMPLE

At the Kogan-ji Temple, there are three volumes of funeral register books, a mortuary tablet, and a jizo statue for whales. The temple holds an annual memorial service dedicated to whales and all sea life. The tomb and tablet together with the register books were erected in 1692 by the fifth head priest of the Kogan-ji Temple, Shoyo Shonin. The priest built a Kannon altar in Seigetsu-an, where he retired at the age of 51 years in 1679 and started conducting memorial services for whales. For 13 years he preached the need to commemorate whale spirits. The priest passed away at the age of 106 years in 1734, but the service continues to the present day. The tablet is now placed in Kogan-ji temple where the annual service is held in early May. The 5-day service is now reduced to one and no fishing is allowed on that day. When the IWC annual meeting was held in Shimonoseki in 2002, the conference delegates attended the memorial service.

Kakocho (Funeral Register Book) for Whales

It is a Buddhist practice that one would receive kaimyo after having gone through the required training; but today, because not many do so, it is commonly understood that kaimyo is given to the deceased.69

Kaimyo (

) is the discipline name (as opposed to personal name) given to trainees by their masters as a sign of commitment. Jodo-shin-shu school uses monyo (

). Today kaimyo is generally understood to be Shigo-kaimyo (

, literally name after death).

Kakocho is a register book of the deceased who were buried at the particular temple, in which the names of the deceased (both Buddhist and personal) are recorded along with the date of burial. The same practice was maintained for the whales caught in the region, thus a set of funeral register books for whales: keigei kakocho, was kept. This kakocho is believed to be the only one specifically dedicated to nonhumans and designated for whales.

The existing kakocho is believed to be the second volume of the four that existed and is registered as Yamaguchi Prefecture Tangible Folklore Property.

70

Its first volume has been lost and the third and fourth volumes are replicas made in the Showa Era (1926–1989).

The book, dating from 1802 to 1842, lists 243 whales. It is one piece of paper with silver backing, folded into thirty-four 23.8-cm–wide pages (totaling 671.7 cm). The front and back covers are made of black varnished wooden boards, and the inscription on the front cover, “Keigei Kakocho” (

) is in black on gold paper.

71

The symbol for female whale is

;

is used for male and female whales today, and

is no longer in use.

Funeral register.

The register follows the same format as the human register: kaimyo consisting of four characters selected by the priest of the temple; the date and location caught; the whaler's name; and the whale's kind, size and sex. It is customary that those who have gone through a 5-day training (both male and female) to receive the character

(honor) in their kaimyo, and often the character

(graceful) is used for females. If used, they (i.e.,

,

) appear in the second and third place in the name, respectively. The characters frequently used in kaimyo are

(large),

(sound),

(shore),

(ocean),

(blessing),

(prayer), as well as those indicating seasons (

, winter;

, spring;

, snow) and time (

, morning). Some examples of the names are as follows:

On May 25, 2006, a 4-meter female Minke whale was tangled in the fixed net owned by a local fishery group. A service was given and the new register book was started by the young priest of the Hogan-ji Temple, who explained his reasons:

I visited the site several times and consulted with the prayer book thoroughly before deciding on a name:

(chigu myoshin). It is adopted from one of the Jodo Scriptures (Tetsu Sentaku Shu Vol. 2, Jodo 2) from the saying that an infant should never leave its mother. It implies, and I hope it reflects my wish, that the whale's soul would not leave Buddha's side and remain in his care.

72

Personal communication, interview data (10 Nov., 2006).

Whale Tombs and Mortuary Tablets

Today 54 tombs are recorded in Japan as specifically designated for whales, 9 of which are not dated. Among them, the Kogan-ji whale tomb is specifically designated for fetuses found in mother whales. Tombs so dedicated to the unborn are rare, and only a few examples exist elsewhere.73

One is in Enoshima, buried with the hazashi's clothes, and the other is in Muroto, buried with child's clothes (Nakazono, The Chronology of Whaling).

On the tomb, (granite; height: 2.4 m, width: 46 cm), a sutra is inscribed on the front with the name of the donors with the names of the three whaling captains and the priest are on the sides.

Although your life as a whale was terminated with the mother's life, it was not our intention to take your life. We'd rather have freed you into the ocean, but you'd not be able to survive on your own in the harsh environment. Therefore we pray that you receive the virtue of impermanence like us human beings.74

. One of the three donors differ from those for tomb. The two families are closely associated, and this is considered to honor both families.

A mortuary tablet for whales (height: 77.5 cm on a base of 22.4 cm × 15.2 cm) carries the same inscription as the whale tomb on the front. On the rear side, the date is inscribed (May 12, 1693) and the names of the contributors: two priests and three donors.75

The Era is Genroku (1688–1703) 5.

The tablet is situated within the main altar of the temple where the annual memorial service (eko) is held in May.76

Eko in Jodo-shu and hoe in Jodo Shin-shu. Eko may be commonly referred to as kuyo (see earlier section) Reciprocity in Japanese cultural context (p. 289).

Eko also features in the local poet Kaneko Misuzu's poem: a memorial for the whales. It depicts the poet's lament for a young whale that has lost its mother and father.

A memorial for the whales

77

Yazaki, Anthology of Kaneko Misuzu, 26–7.

[END POEM]

The oldest tomb is dated 1671 (Kumano, Mie) and the greatest number of monuments were erected during the Genroku Era (1688–1703). It is worth noting that that period coincided with the transition from handheld harpooning to the more efficient net method, by which territories occupied by each group became clearer. The greatest number of tombs were erected during the nineteenth century when the whale stocks suffered a serious decline. This was the time a jizo was erected in Kayoi (Table 2).

Number of whale tombs erected in JapanFrom Nakazono, The Chronology of Whaling, 164.

DECLINE OF WHALING AND A JIZO STATUE

Situated in the graveyard of Kogan-ji Temple, a jizo sits with a slight smile. The inscription on the base (height 74 cm, base 80 cm) reads: “Jizo for the spirits of whales and fish spirits.” Only two of this kind exist in Japan, the other is believed to be in Ikutsuki, Kyushu. Jizo (Ksiti-garbha) in Japanese is a popular Mahayana Buddhist Bodhisattva, who give unlimited mercy with the earth's power for those who suffer. Today jizo may be seen along the roadside or in temples dedicated to unborn infants and those who died young (mizuko, water child).

Jizo statue.

This jizo statue was erected in 1863 by the 13th head of the Hayakawa clan, one of the major whaling groups of the village. It was during the late premodern whaling period in Japan when decline of the stock became evident, starting generally in 1844 to 1848. In Kayoi the peak of the whaling was in 1846 when 5 right whales were caught on November 29 and 24 were caught within 6 months. The estimated price of one whale was then 10 silver kan.79

One hundred seventy ryo. Estimated to be approximately 34 million yen today.

The number of recorded right whales caught in Choshu-Kitaura declined: 50 in 1831 to 1840, 20 in 1851 to 1860, and none in 1861 to 1870. In the Western region (Kyushu) also, the decline was also evident: 148 (1845), 85 (1846), 74 (1847, 1848), and 25 (1849).80

The period coincided with the time when intensive hunting took place in the so-called Japan grounds81

Since approximately 1820, the Japan Ground was defined as longitude 150 to 179, latitude 28 to 35 or the triangular area marked by Hawaii, Hokkaido, and Ogasawara islands (Osumi, “Japan Coastal Whaling”).

by American, British, and French whaling ships using technological inventions including the exploding projectile gun and the bomb lance (1846–1852). Among them were four ships led by Commodore Perry who came to Shimoda between 1844 to 1854 to demand that Japan open up to the world, ending its 200 years of seclusion, and supply fuel, food, and other provisions to the American whaling ships.82

Ships were referred to as kurofune (black ships). Yokohama celebrated the 150 anniversary of the treaty in 2004.

In 1854 the U.S.-Japan Peace and Amity Treaty (or Kanagawa Treaty) was adopted (March 31).83 The year 1846 was also the peak year for American whaling; with 736 vessels, the employment of 70,000 persons, and oil production of 43,884,000 liters in 1845. The industry eventually became obsolete with the introduction of petroleum in 1859. It is believed that, being unaware of the extensive hunting around Japan, the Kayoi community thought the sudden decline was caused by their wrong-doing arising from overexploitation and thus they needed to plead for forgiveness and return of the whales. However, the stock did not recover until the eventual dissolving of the whaling groups in the region between 1894 and 1898.

Nuns' Prayers and Annual Memorial Service: Obii-sama—Nuns at Hosen-an

In Ohibi village adjacent to Kayoi is the Hosen-an Nunnery established during the successive years of three head priests of the Saien-ji Temple: Hogan, Hoju, and Hodo (1779–1863), now referred to as sanshi or the three great masters in the community. The three head priests preached the need to plead for forgiveness for the killing, from which the establishment of the nunnery originated.

Because this coastal village has little farming land, it has no choice but hunting (fish) for livelihood.

Although the intention of those whose livelihood involves killing is wrong, it is justifiable to beg forgiveness for killing. It is not justifiable to allow killing just because it is for livelihood. Such judgment of right or wrong would determine whether one reaches the Pure Land…. if one must kill, cruel killing must be avoid as much as possible. Methods such as large net fishing, fixed net fishing and night fishing and shooting of birds must be prohibited.84

[end prayer]

At the graveyard of the three masters, the burial of 241 nuns is recorded. Today (2006), two nuns reside in the nunnery, both 83 years old. The nuns are well-respected by the community and affectionately referred to as obii-sama (honorable nuns). The two nuns, one of them the head nun (anju-sama), were in good health, but both had a slight hearing impairment and one difficulty in kneeling down. She kept apologizing for being seated on a chair. Their kaimyo names were Ejo and Jiko, meaning blessing purity and nourishing light, respectively. They received these names when they entered the nunnery with a certificate and a book of principles in a ceremony “to farewell this world.”85

An honorific suffix, -sama refers to personal names. Personal communication.

The principles observed by the nuns include various kinds of prohibition, such as different sorts of food; smoking; walking alone; and contact with males, even the monks.86

Rules included restrictions on food with distinct smell such as onion, leek, garlic, and chives; male visitors must be met at the front entrance by all nuns present and leave as soon as they finish their business; no males, even priests, are allowed after 6 PM (this applies to all visitors) not to mention staying overnight, including their fathers. Today the nuns still prepare all meal themselves, and male visitors are allowed inside.

Both of the two Hosen-an nuns entered the nunnery at the age of 13 years, which is younger than others (commonly approximately ages 15–20). It was believed to be “an honour for the family if they can afford to have one of their daughters become a nun” and not a practice to reduce the number of children, because their lifetime source of livelihood must be provided either in the form of a rice field, mountain, or any other food source.87

Approximately 60 kg (2 hyo, or rice bags) of rice per annum was the standard estimate.

If the family could not afford the donation, a guardian (oyabun) may take the role. The newcomers would spend 6 months to 1 year boarding in the household of one of the parishioners, helping out with daily chores both in the household and the nunnery. During this period, the girls are “tested for their suitability, willingness, and physical and mental strength to serve as a nun. In fact, a girl who came from a northern village left after six months.”88

Personal communication, interview data (12 Nov., 2006).

The head nun was the middle of three girls and one elder brother. Her brother had lost his eyesight because of malnutrition and her father also fell ill, and thus she was “told to go into nunnery because [she] was the second girl.”89

Personal communication, interview data (12 Nov., 2006).

No specific reason was given. After the initial training period, she was sent to another regional temple, where a further five nuns resided. The other nun was the second of five girls and was told to enter the nunnery when her father had died at the age of 32 years. After 1 month at Hosen-an, she was sent to a regional branch for the next 40 years and returned 30 years ago. As a young girl, she was told that “it was good to become a nun as you will be well-respected and have a comfortable life, particularly good food, and various kinds of sweets. So I just accepted what my mother said.”90

Personal communication, interview data (12 Nov., 2006).

The head nun also “accepted without question” but as her home was nearby, she felt “so homesick knowing her family was just around the corner but was not allowed to visit during the first three years.”91

Personal communication, interview data (12 Nov., 2006).

The nuns were not allowed to travel outside of the prefecture, so those from other prefectures were not able to attend even family funerals.”92

Personal communication, interview data (12 Nov., 2006).

It was firmly believed that “with a daughter becoming a nun, not only the family but the entire community will prosper, since they reduce the karma associated with taking of life.”93

Personal communication, interview data (12 Nov., 2006).

The current community's respect for the nuns seems to carry this belief.

The nuns are highly regarded by the community for their devotion and the meticulous service they give to all ancestors of every villager. The nuns give three services a day: at 4 AM, 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM, each lasting for 1 to 2 hours.94

The nuns refer to each service as morning, daytime, or evening service.

The night service they used to do after 6 o'clock is no longer practiced because “we now watch TV in the evening.” They smiled quietly. Jodo Buddhism's central belief is devotion to praying referred to as nenbutsu zanmai (i.e., total dedication to praying). The prayers recited at each session are numerous, including those dedicated to Buddhism and the Jodo sect: Amida Nyorai, Shaka, the founder of Jodo, the founder of the temple, kaimyo (names of deceased nuns and trainees); respect for governing figures: Tenno (emperors), the local lord Mori; and parishioners (jidai), the ancestors of families of the nuns themselves. In between each prayer namu amidabutsu is repeated 10 times, but their prayers are somewhat “simplified for the villagers to understand and recite easily” starting with amida with a stress on the initial “a” to achieve a greater clarity.

Prayers are given to whales (keigei gunrei), dolphins (koto gunrei), fish (gyorin gunrei), and all earth creatures that may have been killed during farming (kosaku-chu datsumei).95

Keigei are male and female whales; gunrei are spirits of the group. The gei character is no longer in use today.

In the anniversary part of the prayer, the names of those buried on the particular day are read out. Among them, whales and dolphins are included equally as the human names. “The whales,” the nun recounted, “I saw one coming into the bay when I was very small. I believe women felt close to them because they [whales] give birth and raise their young.”96

Personal communication.

The nuns' dedication extends over the last 300 years, including the 70 years of the two current nuns.97

Women's close affiliation with mammal species like whales is also illustrated by Bell (Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin), who writes about women's intimate association with the protective nature of whales, especially with their calves. “Whales Weep Not” by Lawrence also expresses such affiliation: “And enormous mother whales lie dreaming suckling their whale-tender young and dreaming with strange whale eyes wide open in the waters of the beginning and the end.” Day also points out in The Whale War that it is difficult to argue against the existence of nurture, attachment, and succor with species such as whales and dolphins when they show sympathy towards others in trouble. Prohibition on killing of mother whales no doubt relates to the maintenance of stock, but it also expresses respect for particular kind of female spirituality. Many folk stories describe a violation of prohibition leading to disasters such as storms and shipwrecks. Women's close affiliation with whales and other sea mammals is one important means for extending sympathy to the entire ecosystem. This point deserves further investigation.

The Hosen-an nuns are believed to be the last nuns who came into a nunnery in childhood.

INTANGIBLE HERITAGE VALUES: GRATEFULNESS, SYMPATHY, GUILT, AND PRAYERS AS INTANGIBLE HERITAGE FUNDAMENTAL TO SUSTAINABILITY

The object of empathy is understanding. The object of sympathy is the other person's well-being98

What is maintained by the current community in Kayoi is the spirituality of the former whaling community. It communicates a sense of reciprocity expressed in a form of prayers—nuns prayers and prayers of those who worship that expressed by the cultural properties. Prayers contain gratitude, sympathy, lament, guilt, and a plea for forgiveness. Overall, the hardship and emotional suffering of the former whaling community is clear, and their expression of ethics is particularly significant. This is because, as suggested at the outset, they bear the conflicting and undeniable reality of human dependence on other lives: conflicts between livelihood needs and resource depletion; killing and respect for lives; and gratitude and guilt, which many urban environmentalists can sidestep.

Two aspects are particularly significant. One is that the cultural properties and related practices are maintained and valued by today's community as their cultural heritage, acknowledging the ethics in the current fishery practice even though they no longer engage in whaling. The life of the remote community is not easy, but the whale-related culture provides the community with a clear sense of identity and some avenues for economic development.99

Cultural activities such as guided walks and seminars are initiated by the Whale Museum.

The second is that this whaling culture that belongs to the premodern community-based whaling did not and was not able to continue beyond the transition to the large-scale and technology-based modern whaling. However, its spiritual significance has survived, and furthermore it strongly voices a profound insight into sustainability that contains dialogical and reciprocal quality. The ethics and spirituality coexisting with conflicting human reality should be acknowledged as a significant intangible cultural heritage. However, a challenge remains about how such heritage may be maintained and communicated into the future.

It is now more than 15 years since Kalland questioned whether Japanese whaling had reached “the end of an era.”100

Kalland, Japan's Whaling.

As has been shown, whaling has gone through a number of eras, and we are in yet another. It is time we recognize our foremost priority: to protect the integrity of the entire ecosystem, of which whales are part and for which we are responsible. As Callicott claims, “we are uniquely privileged, and uniquely responsible.”101

Callicott, Earth's Insights, 22.

It is time we overcome the divisive debate, and, again in Callicott's words, form a “collective moral sensitivity to the environment.”102

Callicott, Earth's Insights, 3.

Day writes that his prayer will be “that we do not leave this an empty planet…. and if one grand life form in those seas might survive us, let it be the whales.”103

Day, The Whale War, 199.

I would add my wish that “we humans recognise the obligation to restore and compensate for the damage and suffering caused by human activities and maintain the ability to reciprocate, to respond to the invisible and intangible blessings we receive.”

As with the beginning, I conclude this article with a poem by Kaneko Misuzu, Whaling104

Yazaki, Anthology of Kaneko Misuzu, 28–30.

[end poem]

POSTSCRIPT

Memorial for Right Whales

“A monument for Right Whales” with a statue of a right whale on top is situated in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan. It was erected by a former chief gunner of Toyo Whaling Company in 1957 when he was 83 years old.105

Whaling started in Hakodate toward the end of the Edo era. Edo (now Hoddaido) was made a territory twice; and whaling was a high interest of the Tokugawa sovereign, who sent surveyors to the Etorof Islands area with the assistance and experience of the Hirado feudal clan. Interest in whaling was renewed when the port of Hakodate was opened in 1854. American whalers frequently entered the port, thus introducing the modern Western method of whaling. Whaling survey continued and techniques from Russian and American methods were adopted (e.g., Nakahama Manjiro or John Manjiro who had learned American method taught in the area). However, as whaling declined after the introduction of petroleum in 1859 in Pennsylvania and the subsequent crash of whale oil price, western whaling in Hakodate did not eventuate.

The engraved inscription shows his deep sense of remorse for the taking of life, one for which he was rewarded but may have made his sense of guilt even stronger. The inscription reads as follows:

We engaged in whaling for 26 years from 1908 and we took 2000 some whales. Although among the groups of whales were mothers and calves, many of them were taken. The guilt of taking of the precious lives of these whales was truly regrettable. I have for some time preached the need to formally acknowledge this regretful act, and my desire to do it grew stronger since the passing of my wife.

I have lost three of my children and the anguish of the loss is unbearable. The mercilessness of this world is felt even stronger now in my old age. My wish is to commemorate the spirits of all living things and I therefore erect this monument to wish for the peaceful resting of all whale spirits taken by humans.

[end inscription]

It is explained at the back of the statue that this monument was erected to commemorate the taking of the right whales, because of their good taste, to the extent of near extinction, and it was feared this whale would not be sighted for some time. The gunner's sense of regret is clear particularly in that he was awarded a gold watch for his achievement in the hunt.

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Figure 0

View from Omijima Island.

Figure 1

Summary of the Cultural Properties in Kayoi (from Cultural Heritage On-line, Cultural Agency, 2006)

Figure 2

Funeral register.

Figure 3

Number of whale tombs erected in JapanFrom Nakazono, The Chronology of Whaling, 164.

Figure 4

Jizo statue.