Two-thirds of Japanese back whaling: poll

AFP
Feb 8, 2008

A day after graphic pictures were released of the Japanese whaling fleet in action in the Southern Ocean, a poll in Japan has shown almost two-thirds of the population supports the practice.

Japan's government says whaling is part of the national culture and it has fought bitterly with Western nations over its annual hunt of some 1,000 whales in the Antarctic Ocean.

The Asahi Shimbun said 65 per cent of Japanese support continuing the whaling programme and that 56 per cent of people backed eating whale meat.

Support for whaling was strong among older men, with close to 80 per cent of men between 40 and 70 favouring eating whale meat.

But the the figure was nearly reversed among Japanese women in their 20s, among whom 58 per cent opposed eating whale.

The Asahi survey comes despite other statistics, often cited by environmentalists, pointing out that most Japanese do not eat whale meat, which is rarely found outside of speciality restaurants and stores.

Consumption of whale meat has decreased to 30 grams per person a year - equivalent to a slice of sashimi - compared with 2.5 kilograms in the early 1980s.

- AFP