Whale meat scandal and freeing the Tokyo Two

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Timeline

January 2008:  Greenpeace is contacted by a former whaling fleet crew member, telling them that crew members of the Japanese whaling fleet regularly take whale meat off the ships and sell it for their own profit.  The investigation into these allegations begins.


15 April:  The factory ship Nisshin Maru docks in Tokyo Harbour after its five-month whaling voyage to the Southern Ocean and crew send at least 93 boxes of “personal baggage” with a variety of labels such as “cardboard” or “salted stuff” and addressed to the private homes of crewmembers are offloaded.


16 April:  Greenpeace activists track one of the consignments to a depot in Aomori Prefecture. Junichi and Toru remove one of the boxes to verify its contents, which turn out to be not cardboard, but 23.5 kg of prime whale meat cuts, worth between 100,000 yen (US$1,000) and 300,000 yen (US$3,000).


15 May:  Concluding the four-month undercover investigation, Greenpeace Japan holds a press conference in Tokyo, exposing the full details of the whale meat embezzlement scandal.  As evidence, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki display the box of stolen whale meat that they intercepted, and then deliver it to the Public Prosecutor in Tokyo, along with a full dossier detailing the investigation, including details of the suspected crewmembers.

 
16 May:  Greenpeace hears from the media that the transportation company, Seino, has just reported a missing box to the Police – a month after it was intercepted. 


20 May:  The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office confirms that there will be an investigation into the whale meat scandal.


27 May:  Junichi and Toru send detailed statements of what they did and why they did it to the Aomori Police.


20 June:  In the early hours of the morning, the Aomori District Public Prosecutors’ Office arrests Junichi and Toru in their homes, and they are later transferred to Aomori. A request to hold them in Tokyo is denied.  Junichi and Toru are held in police detention in Aomori.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, over 40 police raid the Greenpeace Japan office - taking mobile phones, documents and computers. Homes of five staff members are also raided.

The same day the Tokyo Public Prosecutor suddenly announces that he has dropped his investigation into the whale meat scandal


22 June:  Junichi and Toru are told they will be held for another 10 days without charge or chance for bail. (Under Japanese law, they can be held for up to 23 days without charge.)


30 June:  Peaceful protests are held at Japanese embassies around the world in support of Junichi and Toru’s release and calling for a full investigation into the whale meat scandal.


1 July:  Junichi and Toru are told they will be held for a further 10 days without charge.


10 July:  A joint statement of concern is released by 35 international non-governmental organizations.


11 July:  Junichi and Toru are charged with trespass and theft, and remain in custody. 


14 July:  Amnesty International expresses its  “deep concern” to the Japanese Prime Minister at the detention of Junichi and Toru qualifying the Japanese government’s conduct as an attempt to intimidate activists and NGO’s. A quarter of a million people have emailed the Prime Minister, asking for release of the Tokyo Two.


15 July:  Junichi and Toru are granted bail by an Aomori judge. The prosecutor immediately appeals the decision, but his appeal is turned down. After 26 days in police detention Junichi and Toru are finally released, but still face criminal prosecution.

Over 252,000 people around the world sent messages of support while Junichi and Toru were detained.

Present: Junichi and Toru are still on bail, but with restrictions - they are not allowed to communicate directly with other Greenpeace colleagues.  Their case will be taking place (with a hearing every month) throughout the remainder of 2008, and into 2009, and their situation looks set to remain the same.

Video update

About Junichi and Toru

While hundreds of millions around the world have spoken out against whaling, Junichi and Toru are the only two currently facing prison time for working to expose the industry's corruption.  Here's a little more about them...

Junichi Sato

Director of Oceans Campaign
Greenpeace Japan

 

Toru Suzuki

Actions Coordinator
Greenpeace Japan

 

The whale meat scandal

Greenpeace Japan's four-month undercover investigation revealed evidence of an embezzlement ring involving crew members on board the whalers’ factory ship Nisshin Maru, who were openly taking the best cuts of whale meat during the so-called scientific hunt, smuggling it ashore disguised as personal luggage and then passing it to traders for illegal sales.

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. The consignment was documented by our activists once it left the ship and tracked to a depot in Aomori Prefecture, where many of the whalers live. One of four boxes destined for the same private address was then intercepted in order to verify the contents and establish the fraud.

The consignment notes claimed the box contained "cardboard" but in reality it held 23.5kg of salted 'prime' whale meat, worth up to US$3,000. One informer told Greenpeace that dozens of crew take as many as 20 boxes each and that this lucrative practice had been going on for years with the tacit agreement of the whaling company, Kyodo Senpaku.

"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," said Greenpeace Japan Executive Director Jun Hoshikawa.
"The Japanese 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. The Greenpeace activists should be immediately released."

More whale meat scandal details.   

Read the whale meat scandal dossier submitted to the government.

More about....

The lie of scientific whaling.

Vote buying at the International Whaling Commission.

Whale meat export/import funny business.

Whalers violating the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Whaling issue general background.

Statement of concern

A number of international non-governmental organizations (including Amnesty International, IFAW, WDCS and Humane Society International) have signed a statement of concern 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.



 

Save Junichi and Toru - the game

Sometimes, even when it's looking dark for your fiends, you have to fight back with a bit of humour. In real life Junichi and Toru helped keep a whale with the silly name of Mr. Splashy Pants safe from the harpoon last whaling season.

In this game, Mr. Splashy Pants returns the favour by freeing Junichi and Toru.

Play game.