Japan: public opposition to whaling increases

Posted by jossc — 18 February 2008 at 6:59pm - Comments

Japanese catcher ship tracked by Greenpeace inflatable

A new poll released today shows that the number of Japanese who don't support whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is growing - the 69 per cent figure is a slight increase on the number found by a similar poll last year. Perhaps surprisingly, the Greenpeace commissioned poll showed that 87 per cent were unaware that their tax money was being used to subsidise the whaling operation - to the tune of 500 million yen (about £2.4 million) each year.

The poll's findings present a stark contrast to the the myth promoted by the Fisheries Agency of Japan that, by killing whales in the Southern Ocean, it is acting in defence of Japanese culture and with the support of its people. In truth most Japanese people have little knowledge of what is being done in their name and with their money, and neither do they support the ongoing hunt.

Conducted by Nippon Research Center, Ltd (a member of Gallup International Association), the poll was designed to provide the views of the Japanese public on the Japanese whaling programme. A full copy of the results can be found at:
http://www.greenpeace.org/nippon-poll-2008

 

 

About Joss

Bass player and backing vox in the four piece beat combo that is the UK Greenpeace Web Experience. In my 6 years here I've worked on almost every campaign and been fascinated by them all to varying degrees. Just now I'm working on Peace and Oceans - which means getting rid of our Trident nuclear weapons system and creating large marine reserves so that marine life can get some protection from overfishing.

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