'I hate whale meat,' Japan's Prime Minister confides: report

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I hate whale meat, Japan's PM confides          

I hate whale meat, Japan's PM confides

Japan's Yukio Hatoyama has revealed he dislikes whale meat, a newspaper has reported in an unusual confession for the prime minister of a country that defies Western criticism of whaling.

"I hate whale meat," Hatoyama said during a meeting with his visiting Dutch counterpart Jan Peter Balkenende on Monday, the Sankei Shimbun reported on Saturday.

The Netherlands is one of several anti-whaling countries that allows the radical environmental group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to register a vessel in the country.

The group's activists have repeatedly harassed Japanese whaling vessels in Antarctic waters.

During the last hunt a Sea Shepherd vessel collided with a whaling ship, sparking allegations that the group was behaving irresponsibly.

Despite Hatoyama's reported dislike of whale meat he urged Balkenende to take action against the group over its attacks on Japanese whalers in the Antarctic, government officials said.

Japan hunts whales by using a loophole in the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling that allows research on the creatures but makes no secret of the fact that the meat often ends up on dining tables.

Tokyo often accuses Western critics of insensitivity toward its culture and heritage.

Hatoyama's centre-left government, which took office in October, has deviated little from the pro-whaling policies adopted by the previous administration, which had traditionally close ties with farmers and fishermen.


October 31, 2009
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'I hate whale meat' . . . Japan's PM drops a bombshell. Photo: AFP

Source: smh.com.au/

I hate whale meat, says Japan’s PM

Japan’s Yukio Hatoyama has revealed he dislikes whale meat, a newspaper reported yesterday, in an unusual confession for the prime minister of a country that defies Western criticism of whaling.
“I hate whale meat,” Hatoyama said during a meeting with his visiting Dutch counterpart Jan Peter Balkenende on Monday at the PM’s office, the Sankei Shimbun reported.

The Netherlands is one of several anti-whaling countries that allows radical environmental group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to register a vessel in the country.

The group’s activists have repeatedly harassed Japanese whaling vessels. During the last hunt a Sea Shepherd vessel collided with a whaler, sparking allegations that the group was behaving irresponsibly.

Despite Hatoyama’s reported dislike of whale meat, however, he urged Balkenende to take action against the group over its attacks on Japanese whalers in the Antarctic, government officials said.

Japan hunts whales by using a loophole in the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling that allows “lethal research” on the creatures, but makes no secret of the fact that the meat often ends up on dining tables. AFP

Source:

GULF TIMES
gulf-times.com

Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has revealed he dislikes whale meat, a newspaper reported Saturday, in an unusual confession for the prime minister of a country that defies Western criticism of whaling.AFP via Yahoo! News - Oct 31 12:08 AM
'I hate whale meat,' Japan's PM confides: report

Dutch premier
Jan Peter Balkenende agreed to take
action against the Dutch-registered flagship of the Sea
Shepherd eco group over its attacks on
Japanese whalers in the Antarctic.


He added: "We disagree about whaling... but we do
 not disagree on the importance of safety at sea."