The Cove Dolphin Hunt Documentary wins an Oscar

The Cove movie, discussed earlier, has won the 2010 Oscar for the Best Documentary at this years Academy Award ceremony. The award has sparked off controversy within the Japan media and the usual, well rehearsed race-based and nationalist counter-accusations about “culture” and “tradition”.

Director Louie Psihoyos, who points out that the dolphin slaughter of Taiji is a ‘tradition’ started in the 1930s and is poisoning locals with mercury, said his crew made the film to give the oceans a voice. They told the story of The Cove because they witnessed a crime. Not just a crime against nature, but a crime against humanity.

The makers made the movie because through plundering, pollution and acidification from burning fossil fuels, all of ocean life is in peril, from the great whales to plankton which is responsible for half the oxygen we breath. He begged Japanese people to see the movie and decide for themselves. The producers also announced a distribution deal for a Japanese version of the documentary and a Japanese language website.

Recently the Taiji townspeople were mandated for mercury testing because of this movie and it was found that males had 20 times more mercury in their blood and the women 10 times more than other Japanese people.

In Japan, the media and authorities are attempting to stigmatize both the anti-dolphin and anti-whaling campaigns in two ways and play on Japanese fears and prejudice.

Firstly, as an attack on Japan and “Japanese culture” by caucasians, and
Secondly, by claiming that the animal rights protesters are primarily motivated by the desire for money.

In the first case, there is no consideration given to the fact that such protesters are not supported by their native governments, have no nationalist agenda and the truth being that many such groups are equally reviled by conservatives at home. The government agencies and media play on the inward-looking and defensive nature of the Japan public who, quite rightly, feel they have been subjected to Western racism in general.

In the second case, it underlines a problem experience by many not-for-profit organizations and campaigns in Japan. The independent voluntary sector in Japan is very young. Legislation allowing the registration of NPOs only was only created in 1995 and is still being developed. The nature of charitable work outside of one’s own community, or philanthropy, is not well understood, appreciated or trusted. For example, by comparison, American people, gives 8 times more to charity than Japanese.

In Japan, NPOs have come to be valued as “pure but poor” and the forthrightness of American fund raising is alien to them. A stance which, combined with a lack of PR skills and a social distaste of confrontational tactics, disadvantages activist groups.