Out of Sight, Out of Mind

The fisherman of Taiji have been hard at work trying to keep the Cove Guardians from broadcasting their dirty work to the world.  On the days when they aren’t out to sea hunting for dolphins, they’re busy hanging tarps and stringing fishing nets in the trees around the Cove.  They’re doing this because they don’t want the world to know what is happening there.  They don’t want you to see.  What happens there is a “secret” they’re desperate to keep even as the Cove Guardians continue to expose the atrocities taking place each day.  By hiding, the fisherman of Taiji hope the world will forget.

Out of sight, out of mind.

While the fisherman in Taiji work fervently to keep their killing hidden, it is up to us to spread the message to anyone who will listen.  The Cove Guardians are there to report and keep those at home informed so that they might use that information to raise awareness.  It’s our duty to use the daily reports as a springboard for action.  Those actions might be phone calls, emails, a Facebook status update or link to an article.  The articles are not just there for us to read and forget.  Knowledge is power but only so long as you use that knowledge as a catalyst for change.

The fisherman of Taiji wish for nothing more than for the Cove Guardians to leave and go home so that they are able to go about their business without scrutiny from the outside world.  Unfortunately, that reality is all too likely in the not so distant future.  If you’re financially able, please consider spending a week or two in Taiji as a Cove Guardian.  We cannot let the fisherman kill dolphins without the cameras there to capture each moment.  If you’re interested in becoming a future Cove Guardian, please send an email to inform-us@seashepherd.org.  If you are unable to travel to Taiji, please continue making phone calls, sending emails and informing people of what is happening, even when the cameras stop filming.  Just because you can’t see what is happening doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

Keep fighting the good fight and I’ll see you in Japan!

What can you do to help stop the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan?

Send a letter, e-mail, and/or fax to the Prime Minister of Japan, the Minister of Fisheries, your local embassy or consulate and other Japanese officials to let them know that this barbaric slaughter is unacceptable.

PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN
Prime Minister Naoto Kan
Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
1-6-1 Nagata-cho
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. 100-8914 JAPAN
+81-3-5253-2111

Website: http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html
Online comment form #1: https://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment_ssl.html
Online comment form #2: https://form.cao.go.jp/kokusai/en_opinion-0001.html

MINISTER OF FISHERIES
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Masahiko Yamada
1-2-1 Kasumigaseki
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. 100-8950 JAPAN
Tel: +81-3-3502-8111
Fax: +81-3-3502-8220

Website: http://www.maff.go.jp/e/index.html
Contact form: https://www.contact.maff.go.jp/maff/form/114e.html

EMBASSY OF JAPAN IN WASHINGTON D.C.
Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki
2520 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington D.C. 20008-2869
Tel: (202) 238-6700
Fax: (202) 328-2187

E-mail: jicc@ws.mofa.go.jp
Website: www.us.emb-japan.go.jp