Whale meat scandal and the Tokyo Two

Can we trust the whalers when they say they're innocent?

This scandal has raised many questions and the Japanese government is clearly avoiding the answers.

In January 2008, Greenpeace Japan commenced a four month investigation into claims, made by a whistleblower, that crew members of Japan’s whaling fleet have for many years been embezzling significant amounts of prime whale meat and selling it for personal gain, with apparent official consent.

Having exposed this scandal, two of our activists our now facing up to 10 years in prison in Japan.

Working from information given by former and current whaling company Kyodo Senpaku employees, we documented the offloading of smuggled whale meat into a special truck, in full view of Kyodo Senpaku officials and crew members, when the Nisshin Maru docked on April 15th, 2008.

Two of our activists, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, removed one of four boxes addressed to a crewmember from a mail depot, whose contents were listed as ‘cardboard’. Inside, they found salt-cured unesu or ‘whale bacon’, valued at up to US$ 3,000. One informer told Greenpeace that dozens of crew take as many as 20 boxes each with the agreement of the whaling company, Kyodo Senpaku.

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While the scandal of stolen whale meat is the most shocking, it's not the only revelation to come from this investigation. Further allegations from our informants that require investigation include:

Throwing tonnes of whale meat overboard daily because they did not have processing capacity for the increased quotas
Cancerous tumours being found and cut out of whales and the remaining meat processed for public sale
Targeted hunts to ensure maximum catch, not random "sampling" as required by the research permits
Harsh working conditions because of the increased workload from the increased quotas

Download the full dossier

Greenpeace Japan exposed the scandal at a press conference, and delivered the box of whale meat to the Tokyo District Prosecutor, as evidence of widespread corruption in Japan's publicly funded whaling programme.

Before the embezzlement was exposed, an official of the Japanese Fisheries Agency claimed that whale meat was never given to crew. But once the whale meat embezzlement was revealed the responses from those involved with the Japanese Government’s whaling programme were many and varied. Kyodo Senpaku changed their story three times in almost as many days. The company now claims that each crew member receives 9.5kg of whale meat.

An investigation was initiated by the Tokyo District Prosecutor but was suddenly dropped on the same day that the Greenpeace office in Tokyo and the homes of four staff members were searched by some 40 police officers, in full glare of the media, who had been tipped off. Junichi and Toru were arrested and held for 26 days. During this period, they were questioned daily for up to ten hours, strapped to a chair, without access to counsel – common practices in Japan, which have drawn repeated criticism from the UN Human Rights Committee. Eventually, Junichi and Toru were charged with theft of the "cardboard" and trespass. They were released subject to strict bail restrictions and face up to ten years in prison. Their trial expected to take place later this year.

Amnesty International expressed grave concern about the case while over 250,000 people demanded the release of Junichi and Toru and investigation of the real criminals. The trial is expected to conclude later this year and the Japanese government still needs to investigate the embezzlement of whale meat and the corruption in the whaling industry that they exposed.

"The whaling programme in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is funded by the Japanese tax-payers, including the Greenpeace activists who have been arrested, and they have a right to know who is profiting from their money. The whaling programme has been shamed internationally for its lack of scientific credibility; now it is being shamed at home as well for trying to hide the corruption, and now for taking revenge on those who have exposed it."

Greenpeace Japan Executive Director Jun Hoshikawa.

Statement of concern

A number of international non-governmental organizations (including Amnesty International, IFAW, WDCS and Humane Society International) signed a statement of concern before Junichi and Toru were released in bail saying:

"Please release Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki and provide Greenpeace Japan and all other Non-governmental organisations working in Japan with the rights guaranteed under international law to organize and to protest peacefully."

Full statement and list of signatories.