Recently, many people have been clamoring against Japanese whaling. Many people think we should stop whaling. In my opinion, though, we don't need to stop whaling for two reasons.

First, there is a food chain. We eat animals — cows, fish, chickens and so forth — even the cute ones. And sometimes animals kill us, or they eat away at the crops and livestock of important farms in order to live. Monkeys sometimes come down a mountain and wolf down our vegetables, but no one reproaches them. Because they are part of the food chain.

People are part of the food chain, too. So many people eat so many foods that were living (animals). Catching whales and eating them is nothing but a behavior within this food chain.

Second, (Japanese whalers) obey the rules for whaling. But some members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have violated the rules any number of times, and what's worse, they are ready to use violence to achieve their ends. Some Japanese whaling ships have been damaged by their acts, or falsely blamed for causing damage to a Sea Shepherd vessel. Therefore, I think whalers are more conscientious about their activities than Sea Shepherd members are about what they do.

There is no reason for our whaling to be criticized as it is. And I believe I should be able to eat whale sashimi.

When I read the April 24 article "Foreigner suffrage opponents rally," I didn't know whether the ignorance or the arrogance of these Japanese politicians struck me more.

Their ignorance is obvious in that they don't seem to realize that foreigners working in Japan pay taxes here while Japanese working overseas don't. Their arrogance consists of their assumption that many foreigners would want to vote for such ignorant Japanese politicians.

As an American, I felt that either John McCain or Barack Obama would make a better head of government than any prime minister I've seen in Japan. I might not have voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger over his opponents for governor of California, but I think he's done a better job in a difficult situation than just about any politician I've seen in Japan would have done. If that's damning with faint praise, so be it.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has been getting a lot of criticism for ambiguities relating to relocation of U.S. Marine Air Station Futenma and Okinawans are understandably feeling betrayed now that it seems the new base will remain inside the prefecture.

In my opinion, the base should be moved to some other part of Japan because the nation as a whole benefits from the security relationship with Washington and Japanese outside of Okinawa have a duty to share what should be a national — not just Okinawa's — burden.

Normally, I would be opposed to foreign bases in Japan or any other country, but the situation in East Asia is peculiar. East Asian political leaders should begin the long process of building a strong regional framework for peaceful cooperation. But until that happens, the American presence seems to be the least of many evils. And mainland Japanese, rather than becoming hysterical over North Korea and other, often-fantasized, threats to their homeland, should suck it in and accept a U.S. base in their part of the country.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 22, 2010
(C) All rights reserved