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On the sea near Antarctica, several ships equipped with huge "crossbow arrows" flashed from time to time between layers of icebergs, and sharp arrows were aimed at the seemingly calm sea like poisonous snakes, and when a huge shadow floated underwater, the "viper" would quickly attack and bite its prey.
As the machine on the ship rotated, a huge whale was directly dragged out of the sea, and the severe pain made it struggle desperately, looking at the "dog skin plaster flag" with a red heart on a white background on the boat, a trace of fear flashed in the whale's eyes, it seemed that his parents were also killed under such a ship's sharp arrows.
This is the daily routine of Japan's whaling ships killing whales in the ocean near the Antarctic continent, and it is a "great undertaking" that Japan will carry out even if it tears its face with an international organization led by Britain and the United States.
Because in the Japanese, whaling is not just to satisfy their appetites, the whaling ship is not catching whales, but also their future.
"Meat ban", also eat meat
Whaling, this hunting behavior actually has a long history, and in ancient times, not only Japanese whaling, but also some countries in mainland Europe have also experienced whaling.
Just like Qin Shi Huang in order to find the "Penglai Immortal Mountain", he personally went out to the sea to shoot the "sea god", and finally he really shot a big whale, this matter has been handed down, and the Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin also directly borrowed allusions to write poems:
"It has often been heard that throwing rats, who dares to shoot whales."
It can be seen that whale hunting is not a rare thing, but whaling to the extent of this fever in Japan is really quite rare.
According to some artifacts unearthed, as early as 5,000 years ago, during the Jomon period, Japan began to use whale skulls to make some bone tools, but its crude processing marks suggest that these whales were probably not hunted by the Japanese themselves at that time.
After all, at that time, it was the Stone Age, and a wooden stick tied to a pointed stone was an advanced weapon, how could it be possible to go out to sea to catch whales?
So these whale bones, it is very likely that the whale washed up on the shallows, and as a result, they ran aground directly without going back at low tide, and were picked up by the Japanese.
Perhaps it was at this time that the huge creature of the whale left an indelible mark in the hearts of the Japanese, after all, if you can catch a whale, it is basically enough for the whole village to eat for a year.
With the development of time, a seemingly completely unrelated thing to whales, but directly and completely triggered the Japanese to kill whales, that is, Buddhism to the east.
Buddhism has been a great stir since the Asuka period in Japan around the 5th century AD, and the description of "suffering in this life, enjoying happiness in the next life" immediately resonated greatly with the Japanese people.
Because Japan, an island country, at that time, was a place where real birds did not, there was nothing, and the introduction of Buddhism undoubtedly gave them a good spiritual sustenance, so soon Japan began to believe in Buddhism throughout the country.
This kind of nationwide religious belief gave the later Emperor Tenmu a very good foundation for "forbidden meat".
The poverty of Japan's natural environment makes them cherish large animals such as cows and horses, but some samurai aristocrats are very fond of beef, because they have no other choice but beef.
At that time, there was no "gelding" technology in Japan, pork was fishy and smelly "inferior meat", and the samurai masters vomited when they smelled it, let alone ate it, so they began to pursue beef.
But once the custom of eating cattle is driven, how can we cultivate the land and open up the land?
So in 676 AD, Emperor Tenmu used the strict practice of Buddhism as a springboard and directly issued an order to "prohibit eating meat", stipulating that "cows, horses, pigs, dogs and other land creatures shall not be eaten by me", which is the "meat ban" in Japanese history.
This ban was tinkered up by later emperors, but it was never abolished, and "not eating animal meat" became a symbol of a person's civilized civilization in Japan.
But civilization cannot be food, let alone braised pork, and many Japanese, especially those who have tasted meat, do not want to eat another bite of meat.
On the one hand, the reservedness of "civilized people", on the other hand, the aroma of meat, what to do?
In this environment, the Japanese began to eat meat wisely.
Whale? Delicious drip work
Doesn't the "meat ban" mean that you can't eat animal meat?
That person caught a pheasant and roasted it, this is not always eating "beast meat", this is not a beast, this is a bird.
Catch a fish to make a sashimi, is this animal meat? This is a fish.
As a result, in addition to "running on the ground", "flying in the sky" and "swimming in the water" became the only two choices for Japanese meat, which also extended to "sashimi" and even "crow sashimi" and other numbing foods.
But compared with "flying in the sky", "swimming in the water" is obviously more adequate and easier to catch.
Because Japan is a narrow country, but the water area faces the entire Pacific Ocean, how can it not be enough to eat?
In this way, the Japanese began to fish a lot, and in the sea fish, do not sea fish, all the creatures in the entire sea, who dares to say that they are bigger than whales and have more meat.
Especially after capturing whales, the Japanese found that whales can be eaten in addition to meat, whale grease can be illuminated for a long time, and has a good maintenance effect on human skin, leather clothing and boots made of whale skin are more durable than other skins, and even whale whiskers are excellent raw materials for making strings for plucked musical instruments.
A large whale, full of treasure, working deliciously.
What are you waiting for, hurry up and grab it.
As a result, Japan's whaling industry has gradually developed and expanded, forming a complete industrial chain that lasts for thousands of years, especially with the increase of Japan's population, the killing of whales is becoming more and more serious, and gradually formed a professional whaling team such as the "whale group" and four major whaling bases represented by Wada-cho in Chiba Prefecture.
By the eighteenth century, there were more than thirty professional whale groups in Japan, including the famous whaler Kumano Shimojiura, whose round-up law greatly increased the success rate of whaling, and Kumano became a veritable whale killer.
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan was liberalized to meat, and people could eat cattle, sheep, pigs and other livestock normally, but these meats were still rare after all, and only some wealthy people could enjoy them at will, and ordinary people only ate fish mixed with a small amount of animal meat.
After World War II, the defeated Japan was devastated, and ordinary Japanese people did not even have to eat brown rice, in this case, MacArthur, the "Japanese Emperor", allowed Japanese ships to go deep into the Pacific Ocean again to fish, asking the sea for food, and the most killed marine life is naturally whales.
However, with the end of the war, the international attention to the protection of the natural environment has gradually increased.
In December 1946, the International Whaling Convention was signed in Washington, D.C., and the International Whaling Commission was established, headquartered in the United Kingdom, which strictly restricted the whaling behavior of various countries, and Japan, as a "subordinate minister" of the United States, naturally joined this organization.
To join is to join, but it can't really make the Japanese starve to death, so with MacArthur's tacit consent of turning a blind eye, Japan's whaling industry is not weak but strong.
By March 1947, nearly 1,200 whales had been killed, mainly mallet whales, humpback whales, bluefin whales, etc., almost killing these whales in the waters near Japan, and after the fifties, Japan's whaling volume directly became the world's first.
Later, with the recovery of the Japanese economy, the Japanese finally had money to buy grain and meat, but killing whales has become a cultural custom for them, and it has become an industrial chain, and the Japanese who live on whaling and other related interests are close to 300,000, leaving this industry, they can't do anything else and don't want to do anything else.
So the whaling industry still existed, and as the number of whales in the waters near Japan dwindled, they extended their claws into the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean, into Antarctica.
Do not open your mouth to whales
But this behavior soon made the International Whaling Commission angry, you can eat everything when you are poor, how can you still have this virtue now that you have money.
So in 1982, the International Whaling Commission issued a final notice to the world whaling behavior, which would begin in 1986, eliminating all commercial whaling, and violators would be prosecuted.
Although there was also a whaling industry in Norway, Iceland and other Nordic countries at that time, it was obvious to whom this ban was heard.
But where in Japan would be so obedient?
The whaling industry is Japan's "food and clothing for millions of workers".
Just as the Japanese ate birds and whales when they were forbidden to eat animal meat, this time Japanese stakeholders have found a way to take advantage of it.
Commercial whaling is not allowed? Then our whaling ships go to sea under the banner of scientific research, our whaling is not for commercial use, not to make money, but for scientific research.
In this way, Japanese whaling ships still appear in the waters near Antarctica, and because they are in the name of scientific research, their authority has increased, after all, there are so many scientific research equipment on board, no one knows what they have detected.
However, with the development of history, the international awareness of environmental protection has gradually strengthened, the number of Japanese whalers has gradually decreased to several thousand, the new generation of Japanese has lost the feeling of whale meat, and Japan's whaling industry has naturally declined.
In 2000, Japan produced only about 2,800 tons of whale meat, whale skin just over 1,000 tons, and related industries were only about 300 million yuan.
This seems to be the gradual end of an industry, a period of history gradually disappearing, but Japan's later actions are somewhat confusing.
In 2004, Japan struggled with Norway and other countries to request a meeting of the International Whaling Commission to lift restrictions on commercial whaling, but this was rejected.
In 2006, Japan and other countries again petitioned the commission to repeal the 1986 ban on commercial whaling, but the proposal was still not passed.
In 2019, Japan finally stopped being patient, since you didn't let me let go of whaling, then I "quit the group", you guys play by yourself.
At this point, Japan resolutely withdrew from the International Whaling Commission.
What kind of medicine does Japan take, why do you have to live with whales?
In fact, the current Japanese whaling is really not just for appetite.
More than 20 years have passed since the twenty-first century, who still lacks that bite of meat to eat, then Japanese wagyu beef has been blown to the sky, why do you have to catch whales and gnaw?
And whale meat this kind of meat, to be honest it is really not too delicious, after cooking whale meat meat quality is easy to firewood, especially the lean meat at the tail, basically a mouthful of teeth.
So whale meat is delicious, basically the kind of seventy or eighty years old people in the Showa era, at that time did not eat, it is good to have a mouthful of meat to eat, who cares if the taste is good or not?
In this way, whale meat is naturally a memory of these old people, to put it bluntly, it is purely "Yu Qian's teaching to cook - the main feeling".
So not for eating, for what?
Whaling? Capture the future
First of all, the Japanese believe that whaling is not actually to destroy the environment to a certain extent, but to protect the environment.
Whales, a creature, eat 5 tons of food every day just to eat, for the small fish and shrimp in the sea, that bite is a family tree, especially whales near Antarctica, a bite can eat two million krill.
Therefore, there are more whales, which is undoubtedly an extinction disaster for other creatures in the surrounding seas, and whaling is also a man-made adjustment of the natural ecological balance, which is why Japan will be so tireless in attacking whales.
Without whales, the fish in the surrounding sea are no longer a threat, aren't all those who survive Japanese?
It belongs to the whale to grab food and eat.
And although the market for whale meat in Japan is gradually declining, the traditional culture of whaling still exists, and to this day, some villages on the eastern coast of Japan still retain quite a lot of songs and dances and even festivals about whales, for some old people, whaling is a cultural sustenance.
Before Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in 2019, Japan hunted an average of about 700 whales per year, producing more than 3,000 tons of whale meat, and the scale of related industries was close to 500 million yuan.
The Japanese whaling industry has really stopped, what should these people do?
But when it comes to the most important point, it is really Japan's "scientific whaling".
Most of the locations of Japanese scientific research whaling are concentrated near Antarctica, but their behavior is not only to catch whales and return home, but to record the nearby hydrological conditions, fishery resources, seabed mineral resources, and sub-ice mineral resources.
It is clear that Japan has ambitions to deploy Antarctica and compete with the world for Antarctic resources, and the so-called scientific research whaling is just a pretense.
The little money earned by whaling is just an addition, which can understand the big cake of Antarctica, and grab a bite in the future when the era of marine development and Antarctic development comes, which is really delicious meat.
Today, 97% of the world's oceans are unknown to us, which is a huge treasure trove, and which country can develop these resources, which country will be at the forefront of the world.
And don't doubt whether Japan really has such great ambitions, this is a country that can extremely hide its intentions, who would have thought that at the time of the Sino-Japanese War, Japan had already withstood its strategy of world domination?
Although this kind of daydream died in China, it can also be seen that Japan really has a lot of wolf ambitions, and it belongs to a country that wants a dollar for food today and can fantasize about how to successfully list on this dollar in the future.
So Japan's whaling, in fact, is to seize the opportunity of marine development, after all, in addition to this excuse, there is really no suitable reason, up to now Japan is still a defeated country in World War II, legally speaking, there is no qualification to talk to the world, and can only rely on scientific research whaling to clear the plank road, dark Chen Cang.