Was it expensive or did someone else pay?

... Mixed feelings.

It depends on the situation, I guess.
Knowing myself, though, I would most probably give it a taste. I wouldn't want the poor whale's death to be in vain.

To those that believe the extremists sink ships and kill humans.

Recently they have done nothing of the sort... the only thing that they really do that I think is borderline is to board the whaling vessels... and the only reason I think this is bad is because it violates maritime law.

It's seems to be tit for tat.

The whaler's are more concerned about getting the kills back to shore and on the tables..

That's the "scientific" tables!

Someone else paid, so I have no idea.

I've not eaten whale meat, but I would do so if the restaurant were reputable (i.e. the meat sourced legally).

Japan has very strict quotas, and very strict laws on which whales can and cannot be hunted. Obviously there are unscrupulous people who'll kill and sell anything if it'll make them some money, but I don't think it's fair to blame all of Japan for the actions of a few greedy people, just as it's not fair to blame all of Korea for the illegal fishing and smuggling of endangered marine molluscs into Australia perpetrated by a few selfish men with a boat.

I can't see why people should use animal products when you could use ethical, vegetable products aswell. We don't need to kill or abuse to survive, so why would we?

Go vegan 0=)

He's gone crazy. Quick, sedate him! :D

Meat is too damn delicious to give up.. I think it's a relief to see that the living conditions of livestock are improving.

I think it's fair to blame Japan because whaling is allowed and subsidised by the Japanese government.

Fair enough. In which case I blame all of America for allowing the torture and illegal detentions of prisoners, the ludicrously high incidence of the sexual assault and rape of female military personnel by their own male colleagues, and for PETA - the only "animal welfare" organisation in the world to execute tens of thousands more animals than it actually saves.

What other crass generalisations can we make? There have to be a few, surely.

The fact of the matter is that whaling in Japan is an extremely complex debate, and certainly isn't going to be resolved by taking a simplistic, overview approach such as yours.

:eek: Wooah...Please watch where your throwing blame for PETA. That's just uncalled for. Nobody deserves to be blamed for such a thing other than the leader of them.

I haven't tasted it, I'm not oppose to trying new things.
I want to.

but their should be a limit of how many whales can be killed. X.X

I do blame all of America to an extent. And even then only those injustices which were sanctioned by the government (I don't know why you'd include the high incidence of sexual assault and rape of female military personnel)

You can't have a representative democratic government without accountability. That accountability rests with the government for the most part. But the government only exists because the majority of people support it so to a certain extent the American people themselves are to blame. Not individually speaking of course.

It's the same with Japan and whaling.

This is why the world cannot get along with each other. They don't understand that not everyone that lives in a country agrees with everything that goes on. Can we drop the finger pointing and get back on topic?

Dude...

I said to an extent

Let me elaborate... I hold the American people responsible to an extent which doesn't ignore that myriad of opinions and perspectives held by Americans. It's why I said at the end But even those that do not support their government are responsible in that they support an institution which allows such a government to act in that way.

The problem with nationalism is that the people who have the power to act on behalf the nation, represent all those that claim to be in that nation. Another problem is that because national identity has a high priority in identity politics amongst many Americans especially, but also in other parts of the world too... many people (like you) are quick to take offense to my holding you responsible to an extent.

While I too have a national identity... It is not all that defines me. I identify myself as a New Zealander in the same way as I identify myself as a person who likes to play basketball, drink coffee with friends etc.

So you wouldn't take offense to someone holding you responsible to any extent, for something you have no control over?

Are you saying you have absolutely no control over your government as an American?

You've become a nazi... Will you stop dictating to people the direction which threads must take?

I haven't broken any rules and neither has anyone else in taking this thread in this direction.

If you want to talk whaling then talk whaling.

I would eat whale meat if I was hungry and had nothing else.

I support people who choose a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, but PETA disgusts me.

Any non profit animal right's groups have my full support. They are simply amazing and believe in what they are doing.

I can't see anything wrong with people eating whale, but I think the real issue is the low non substainable numbers left in the wild, and also the metod in which they are slaughtered.

Another issue is Japan hunts them under "scientific purposes", which I think only inflames the anti whalers more.

Why can't they just admit that they are hunting them to eat!

If it was different times and the whales were plentiful I would probably try it, I tend to be very curious in different foods. My feelings are mixed on the present day sitiuation though, as it is part of japan's culture, yet the whales are endangered.

I don't think Ronin4hire or I were finger-pointing as such. We were more discussing whether or not a country as a whole is responsible for the actions of a few of its people - a conversation which directly relates to whether or not illegal whaling is the fault of the Japanese government for allowing some legal whaling to take place (i.e. paving a route to it, so to speak).

Bear in mind that neither Ronin4hire or I are either Japanese or American citizens.

But as it's a topic we can explore no further, I'm sure we're both happy with our own opinions :)

That's a good point that is often brought up.

I think the theory is it was eaten in the Japan poor days and when food was in short supply.

Of course, food is no longer in short supply, but whales are.

Eating whale was also part of Western culture too. (Europeans and Americans hunted whales up untill the early 20th century... where do you think the tale Moby Dick comes from?)

And if it's a part of Japanese culture then let the Japanese hunt whales with the tools they used back in the day.

If I remember correctly... the medeival Japanese didn't have steel boats and grenade tipped harpoons.

Will the whales become extinct if this goes on? How many do they actually kill per year?
I've also seen videos of a japanese dolphin fishing industry, where they cut up the dolphins' stomaches and let them bleed to death on the ground. It was horrible. I wonder if they do something similar to the whales, it's hard to tell since they're so huge.

I think exticntion is what's causing the main problem, plus the cruel ways of killing.

It seems the dolphins down at Taiji are getting the Al Queda style slaughter and It breaks my heart to see such a thing on YouTube.

Yes, In Australia we grew up being educated that whales are highly intelligent creatures and that we should respect them.

We did also once hunt whales in Australia, and by memory it was for the fats for perfumes.

That was before my time..

It's hard to know why, when and how we all think differently, but the whale issue is affected because it's happening in International waters.

The cruel dolphin slaughter doesn't get as much publicity, mainly becaus it's done in Japanese waters and they do have control over the media during slaughter time.

Never tried it before.
I feel bad for the whales being hunted so much.
But on the other hand, don't knock it 'till you've tried it. So I'd like to try it just once

I think it would be a pity if we could only see whales on pictures.
Furthermore I think Japan should listen to all those people who are against it and that they don't use lame excuses like 'scientific purposes', besides I'm a vegetarian so I won't eat it anyway.

It would also be a pity if we could only see salmon, crab, and lobsters in pictures.

You don't know until you try.

I don't think that'll happen. Salmon, lobsters, crab and shrimps are small enough to raise for human consumption. We can't raise whales nor keep them captive.

That's a good point and like Yoite said, only being able to see pictures of whales would be sad.

You need to update your information. Some species of salmon are seriously being considered for the endangered list. There is also a serious shortage of eel. Salmon and eel are becoming scarcer despite farming, because of the over consumption. The supply is not a plentiful and you make it sound.

But neither are whales.

I don't think that is what he was really meaning..

What he was trying to say was that he doesn't agree with killing whales as they are a threatened species.

It was in reply to MMM's post.

i ate a whale sashimi one time, and didn't like the taste at all. i guess it's one of those acquired taste kind of a thing.

anyways, any one of you out there has been to korea and ate dog meat? or cats?

No, but my partner has.