September 2009: Toru Suzuki, a Greenpeace activist from our Japan office, was recently in Australia to meet with politicians, government officials and the public to provide an insight into the Greenpeace anti-whaling campaign in Japan. Both Toru and Junichi Sato, also known as the "Tokyo Two", were arrested last year after exposing a scandal within Japan’s whaling industry last year. The Tokyo Two are expected to go on trial in February or March next year.
The International Whaling Commission, the peak international body for dealing with whaling and whale conservation, has failed to save any whales this year.
The annual International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting starts on Monday in the scenic Portuguese island of Madeira. It looks like the greatest threat to the whales there will be hot air.
The IWC is threatening to become a talkfest where no clear action is taken to stop the Japanese government from any more lethal whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Greenpeace opened a new communications centre in Aomori, Japan’s northern fishing district. The centre will be a hub of information and discussion on the country’s whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.