October 13, 2010

Taiji Celebrates Isana Festival With Mechanized Whale

When does tradition become something that should perhaps become obsolete? Every year, the small village of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture in western Japan celebrates the beginning of the annual whaling season with their Isana Festival. Included is a pseudo hunt by men in rowboats chasing a 30ft. mechanized whale around their bay. Unfortunately, the country has been subject to controversy of late as Japan claims that whaling is part of their culture, for both research and eating, while other countries and animal activists, such as those who created the documentary "The Cove," claim that there is unnecessary violence and killing that includes not only whales but dolphins.

Via Weird Asia News