The Japanese delegation to the International Whaling Commission requested identical action against Greenpeace International in response to that organization's 28 hour hi-jacking of two Japanese whale research vessels, the Nisshin Maru and the Kyo Maru No. 1 on December 7, 1998.  Greenpeace agents chained themselves to the vessels after the Nisshin Maru was disabled by fire and towed to New Caledonia for emergency repairs.  They also wrapped a chain around the vessel's propeller and sent a threatening message via facsimile. 

IWC delegates from the United States, France and other "like-minded" nations sympathetic to Greenpeace dismissed the violation of the Japanese vessels as "harmless," "peaceful," and even "boring."  New Zealand's IWC commissioner termed it a "minor incident."  Among those delegations and observers supportive of whaling cultures to sustainably harvest cetaceans for food, reaction to the refusal to sanction the "animal rights" group was one of abject frustration. 

"By IWC's giving Greenpeace its 'blessing' for what is tantamount to an act of piracy on the seas or car-jacking on land is astonishing.  If a kidnapper holds his victims hostage yet does no physical harm to them, he's still guilty of kidnapping.  IWC appeared to be saying such criminal behavior is okay if the guilty party says 'just kidding,'" said Eugene Lapointe, one of the world's most respected authorities on wildlife conservation and the political antics of extreme environmental organizations. 

"Viewed against the week-long bashing of virtually every Japanese-sponsored agenda item, one can only speculate that anti-Asian racial prejudice is alive and well among IWC delegations from the nation's most powerful nations," said Lapointe, former Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). "The open hostility toward the people of Japan exhibited at the IWC meetings was appalling." 

For twelve years, the Japanese have requested IWC approval for the taking of 50 minke whales annually by its traditional coastal whaling communities: Wada, Abashin, Ayukawa, and Taiji.  For twelve years, IWC has said "NO!"  The refusal of IWC to recognize the thousands of years of cultural ties of these Japanese communities to whales, while at the same time allowing other whaling cultures at least minimum quotas, is at best puzzling to observers. 

"There are a million minke whales in the oceans.  Conservation of that species is not at issue, so one can only conclude the majority of IWC delegations are simply prejudiced against the Japanese," said Lapointe, whose organization, IWMC-World Conservation Trust recognizes the necessity of preserving cultural diversity as an important component of nature's conservation and balance.�