FEATURE: Crew member of Japanese whaling ship proud of job

Japan Policy & Politics, April 29, 2002

SHIMONOSEKI, Japan, April 25 Kyodo

While he mostly wants to catch whales, Tomoya Hirai also spends time peering through binoculars at the waters of the Antarctic Ocean to collect data on whale populations for scientists.

The 28-year-old crew member of a ship in Japan's research whaling fleet talked proudly about his job.

''Not only catching and examining whales but also investigating where they migrate and where they do not are the purposes of research whaling,'' he said.

''I always carefully watch whales to provide scientists on board with precise data so they will be able to come out with accurate estimates of whale populations and their habitats,'' Hirai said in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Once a major whaling base in western Japan, Shimonoseki is hosting a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) running until May 24.

Born in the city of Chiba near Tokyo, Hirai used to travel four hours by train each day to and from a fishery high school in coastal Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture.

He initially dreamed of becoming a bonito fisherman but that changed in his senior year after he saw a video of a whaling expedition. ''Whaling looked an exciting job and I gazed on a photo collection of whaling expeditions at the school library,'' he said.

After graduating, Hirai joined the Tokyo-based Kyodo Sempaku company, a firm operating a fleet of whaling ships, in 1992, six years after Japan had given up commercial whaling in compliance with an international moratorium. The country turned to research whaling a year later.

''I understood the severe situation surrounding whaling when I got the job, but I just wanted to be involved in whaling,'' he said. Since then, he has spent eight months a year on the ocean seeking whale habitats.

''While I feel this is a challenging job when all of the crew members pursue a whale that I locate, I also feel whales are beautiful when I see the swimming with dignity,'' he said.

Japan will seek to resume commercial whaling at the IWC meeting and end the 16-year global moratorium, but will face strong opposition from antiwhaling nations such as the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Many government and conservationist groups worldwide condemn Japan's research whaling as a cover for commercial whaling, noting that whale meat is sold for consumption in Japan.

Crew members of whaling ships, meanwhile, call whale meat ''a byproduct'' of research activities.

Hirai, who now lives in Shimonoseki with his wife and a 2-year-old son, said he believes Japan would not overhunt whales if the international community approves the resumption of commercial whaling.

''Reckless whaling will be prevented under a strict monitoring system, and I do not think Japan will ignore past negotiations at IWC meetings over how to realize appropriate whaling,'' he said.

To pave the way for the resumption of commercial whaling, Japan is seeking adoption of a new science-based international whaling-monitoring system known as the Revised Management Scheme (RMS), but analysts say it is unlikely that Tokyo will win sufficient votes at the IWC meeting to introduce it.

Despite the controversy over whaling, Hirai said he hopes people will eat whale meat as ordinary food. ''I hope people will enjoy eating what I caught,'' he said.

A resumption of commercial whaling still seems far away, but Hirai said he looks forward to many more years on whaling ships.