Japan Ignores 'Whaling Ban'... Even Sells Whale Meat Vending Machines

In 2020, 61.1 Billion KRW Subsidies for the Whaling Industry
Iceland to Cease Whaling After 2024

Despite numerous criticisms from the international community, Japan, which continues to allow commercial whaling, has now started selling whale meat through vending machines in urban areas.

According to a report by the British daily The Independent on the 19th (local time), the Tokyo-based company "Kyodosenbaku" (共同船舶) installed a total of four vending machines last month in Tokyo and other regions, selling frozen whale meat, canned products, and cooked meat, and has begun full-scale sales.

Whale captured by a Japanese fishing vessel
[Photo by EPA·Yonhap News]

They plan to install three more vending machines by next month and aim to increase the number to 100 over the next five years if sales go well. The price range is around 1,000 to 3,000 yen (approximately 9,600 to 29,000 KRW).

Additionally, the company plans to import 3,000 tons of fin whale annually from Iceland starting next month to support the global whaling industry. The Independent explained that using vending machines to sell whale meat is an attempt by the related industry in Japan to stimulate consumption and increase import volumes.

Over the past 50 years, whale meat consumption in Japan has significantly declined, and the industry has been trying to present a business model to the government to sustain the whaling industry. In December 2018, the Japanese government officially withdrew from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in response to domestic stakeholders' demands and resumed commercial whaling, continuing despite international criticism.

In 2020, the government provided subsidies amounting to about 61.1 billion won to the whaling industry. Environmental and animal protection groups condemned Japan's whale meat vending machines as a "desperate sales tactic of a declining whaling industry."

Canned whale meat sold in Japanese supermarkets in 2004 [Photo by EPA·Yonhap News]

Amid international criticism, Iceland, a major fishing nation, declared in February last year that it would stop commercial whaling after 2024. Iceland was one of the few countries, along with Norway and Japan, that allowed commercial whaling, but citing rising operational costs and declining exports, it announced it would not approve whaling once the set quota period ends, stating there is no economic benefit.

Meanwhile, whaling is carried out by shooting harpoons equipped with grenades at whales. Animal protection groups have criticized this method as extremely cruel because it takes a long time for the whale to die and causes great suffering. Some scenes in the movie "Avatar: The Way of Water" also criticized whaling, which led to a boycott of "Avatar: The Way of Water" within Japan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.