Eyeheads at the Japanese Embassy

Today two giant eyeballs delivered a message to the Japanese Embassy in London imploring the Japanese Prime Minister not to send his whaling fleet to Antarctica to hunt minke whales, and to let Japan know the world is watching. The message delivery is part of a Greenpeace global day of action against whaling.

At the start of today's global day of action protestors in Australia and New Zealand converged on Japanese embassies to deliver the message "Don't Go!" to Japanese Ambassadors. Some of the protestors wore bizarre "eyeballs" over their heads to show Japan the world is watching, while at the same time thousands of people around the world faxed or emailed similar messages to the Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi. Activities will continue throughout the day in 15 other countries.

In Japan, on 2nd November, Greenpeace delivered petitions to the offices of the Prime Minister and to those of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Takana and the Minister of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries, Mr. Takebe, demanding that the whaling fleet not be allowed to leave Shimonoseki.

The Japanese whaling fleet of one factory ship, three catchers and a spotting boat is due to depart Shimonoseki, Southern Japan, tomorrow or Wednesday, and will travel to Antarctica to hunt 440 minke whales. This is despite a plea from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that the Japanese government should "halt the lethal takes of whales" (1), and the fact that the IWC has designated the area a sanctuary for whales. The whales Japan hunts appear to be in decline and IWC scientists are unable to agree on an estimate for the number of whales or to rule out that this population may have suffered a precipitous decline over the past decade.

Today's protests serve as a warning that Japan is now perilously close to bringing about an end to the moratorium on commercial whaling. Japan has admitted using overseas aid to buy support from developing countries in the Caribbean and elsewhere (2). Of the 14 IWC member countries that opposed the IWC's plea to Japan, 9 were developing countries implicated in the vote buying scandal. One Caribbean Prime Minister has admitted that his country sells its vote to Japan (3).

Japanese government officials are believed to be intensifying their efforts to build a majority before the next meeting of the IWC. This will be held in the Japanese fleet's home port of Shimonoseki in May 2002. "Japan wants a return to high seas whaling with factory ships, and its willing to use bribery to get it," said Richard Page, Greenpeace Whale Campaigner. "If the global community doesn't stop Japan rigging the deck at the IWC we'll see again the sort of whaling that devastated whale populations all over the globe."

"Year after year Japan has ignored world opinion," said Motoji Nagasawa, Greenpeace Campaigner in Japan. "Perhaps the Prime Minister, Mr. Koizumi is different and will listen. We hope he will end Japan's whaling and stop the fleet before it leaves port."

Notes to editors:
1. The Resolution on southern hemisphere minke whales and special permit whaling passed by the IWC in July 2001, includes the following:
"Concerned that the Scientific Committee report cannot rule out that the Southern Hemisphere minke whale population may have suffered a precipitous decline over the past decade; now therefore the Commission strongly urges the Government of Japan to halt the lethal takes of minke whales conducted under the JARPA programme, at least until the Scientific Committee has reported to the Commission on the impacts of the JARPA programme on the stocks of minke whales in Areas IV and V."

2. In an interview broadcast on the Australian ABC TV in July 2001, a senior Japanese official, Mr Komatsu, described minke whales as "cockroaches of the sea", and admitted that Japan saw development aid as a "major tool" in ensuring that key developing countries voted in favour of whaling at the IWC.

3. Antigua and Barbuda whaling support partly linked to Japanese aid. Caribbean News Agency CANA, 16 July 2001

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255