The Academy Award winning movie titled “The Cove” is a supposed documentary about the dolphin and whaling industry in a picturesque small village in Taiji, Japan. The film leads one to believe the inhabitants of this hamlet are blood-thirsty and hostile to foreigners. The reality is the premise of this propaganda piece is pure fiction based in hatred and hallucinations.
I can write this because I just recently returned from Taiji, Japan. I met with the mayor, members of the fishermen’s association, and shop keepers. These are genuine people just like any middle class folks around the world with the desire to provide for their families and their future. Whaling and dolphin harvesting has been part of the town’s culture / industry for at least the last 400 years.
In the movie “The Cove” is shows the producers being followed by and bothered by the police. Really? I traveled through the town in a customized, oversized Chevrolet van that screamed “foreigner,” yet I did not see one policeman. The fictitious documentary purports to show difficulty in videoing in the town. Huh? I traveled and walked with my video camera without any hindrance or interference.
Prior to visiting Taiji my desire was to meet with the mayor. When he was contacted by my counterpart in Japan, the mayor refused. Due to the movie “The Cove” and the subsequent despicable behavior of Sea Shepherd, the so-called “Cove Guardians,” that thing Scott West and his vermin infested minions. Mr. Shun of Japan requested I make a short video addressing the mayor explaining who I was and why I was requesting a meeting with him.
Shun transferred the video to a DVD and sent it to the mayor with a cover letter. Resulting in a few days later receiving the desired appointment. We met with the mayor, the assistant mayor, some of their staff, and members of the fishermen’s association for about an hour. After formal introductions, I bowed towards the mayor, apologized to him for the shameful behavior of Sea Shepherd in their village. I informed the assembled group that these She Shepherd drones are not representative of people in the USA or Texas. That they are rejected derelict misfits, an abomination to the West.
The mayor gave us a delicious lunch made up of whale meat, afterwards a private tour of their whale museum and dolphin training center. The town of Taiji enjoys a population of around 3,225 people, most of who are connected to the whaling / dolphin industry. Many of their last names are related to whaling and dolphins. The permission for dolphin harvesting does not come from the mayor’s office, but come from the prefecture’s governor’s office.