The Controversial Voyage Of Japan’s New Whaling Mothership

Hideki Tokoro, adorned with a toy whale hat, whale tie, and a shirt featuring whale motifs, dedicates his days to pondering the world’s largest mammals. Yet, his goal is not to protect them but to hunt them.

To achieve this, Tokoro's company, Kyodo Senpaku, has launched a new $48 million whaling mothership – the Kangei Maru.

“We take pride in catching whales and are very proud of this ship, which will allow us to start offshore mothership-style whaling this year,” Tokoro stated as he gave reporters a tour of the 370-foot, 9,300-ton vessel, which set sail last Saturday for an eight-month journey in Japan's northern waters.

This new ship replaces the infamous Nisshin Maru, a whaling factory vessel decommissioned in 2020 after over 30 years of service marked by frequent clashes with anti-whaling activists.

According to the company, the Kangei Maru is larger and faster than its predecessor, equipped with state-of-the-art drones capable of traveling 100 kilometers (62 miles) to help smaller boats quickly locate and kill whales.

However, activists argue that the ship’s advanced features, including a cruising range of over 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles) and the ability to sail for up to 60 days, indicate that Japan is eyeing whales far beyond its northern waters.

“Japan has never given up on its whaling ambitions,” veteran anti-whaling activist Paul Watson told CNN. “The only purpose of a vessel like this is to travel long distances to the Southern Ocean to hunt whales. What the whalers are doing now is just a test run.”

The Kangei Maru features a slipway large enough to haul 85-foot whales from the sea to an indoor flensing deck the size of two basketball courts. There, workers strip away the blubber, cut up the whale flesh on enormous cutting boards, vacuum-pack, and store the meat in 40 industrial freezers, ready for sale.

“Whales are at the top of the food chain. They compete with humans by eating marine creatures that should be feeding other fish,” Tokoro said during the tour. “We need to cull whales to maintain the balance of the ecosystem – it’s our job and mission to protect oceans for the future.” He also claimed that most of the ship’s catch would be killed “almost instantly” by cannons at sea, though he acknowledged that in some cases, a rifle might be used to finish the job.

Marine conservation groups and scientists object to the slaughter of one of the ocean’s most majestic creatures, emphasizing the vital role whales play in mitigating the climate crisis by sequestering and storing carbon emissions.

“Whales are not just consumers in ocean ecosystems – they recycle nutrients into the environment, which helps stimulate plant-life growth,” said marine ecologist Ari Friedlaender, dismissing arguments that commercial hunts could be sustainable. “Humans have a long history of killing whales and have not managed to sustainably harvest them.”

Commercial whaling was banned in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) after whale populations were nearly driven to extinction. Japan is one of three countries, along with Norway and Iceland, that continue to hunt whales, citing cultural and historical importance and food security.

Iceland plans to end whaling in 2024 due to falling demand and high operational costs, while Norway remains the world’s leading whaling nation.

For decades, Japan justified whaling under the guise of scientific research. In 2018, it unsuccessfully tried to persuade the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling. Following this failure, Japan withdrew from the IWC and resumed commercial whaling, defying international criticism.

“Japan is no longer party to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling and can argue it is no longer bound by its provisions,” said Donald Rothwell, an international law professor at the Australian National University (ANU). “Within its waters, it has the authority to manage living resources, including whales.”

Under Japanese law, three species of whale are permitted to be hunted in its territorial waters and exclusive economic zones: the endangered sei whale, the threatened minke whale, and Bryde’s whale, with endangered fin whales set to be added to the list.

“Whales are important food resources and should be sustainably utilized based on scientific evidence,” said government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi, announcing a proposal to hunt fin whales, the second-largest whale species.

The World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) argues that whale watching is a more successful industry than harvesting whale meat. “Commercial whaling in the 21st century is unjustifiable,” the WCA said. “The whaling industry in Japan recognizes the challenge of increasing whale meat consumption, as there is currently no market. So why keep slaughtering these intelligent animals?”

Tokoro ruled out whale watching. “We will not switch to whale watching, but eating whale meat while watching whales might be quite a nice touch,” he told CNN.

Kyodo Senpaku has launched aggressive PR campaigns to promote whale meat to new generations. Tokoro claims to eat whale meat daily and touts its health benefits, alleging it can cure hair loss and cancer.

“Whale meat is not only delicious, it’s good for you,” he said during the ship tour, praising the combination of whale meat and rice as superior to beef and buns.

Last year, Tokoro launched controversial whale meat vending machines, offering whale sashimi, steak, and bacon. The company has also sponsored influencers from countries such as Russia, Thailand, and South Korea, encouraging them to promote whale meat as delicious and acceptable.

While Japan has a long history of whaling dating back to the Edo period, experts note that whale meat consumption peaked after World War II due to food scarcity. Today, whale meat is considered a luxury dish, with little interest among the general population, especially the youth.

Japan’s fisheries ministry estimates that between 1,000 and 2,000 tons of whale meat are consumed annually, compared to over 230,000 tons during the 1960s.

“There is still a market for whale meat in Japan, but its size and production volume have shrunk dramatically,” said economics professor Mitsuhiro Kishimoto from Shimonoseki City University. He noted that several major whaling companies have withdrawn from the trade.

Scientists have also expressed concerns about the high levels of mercury in whale meat, which could be dangerous to consumers, particularly pregnant women and children.

The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, established by the IWC in 1994, hosts dozens of whale species, including humpbacks, blue whales, and fin whales. Despite this, Japan conducted regular whaling expeditions in the region under the pretext of scientific research until 2019.

Takaaki Sakamoto, director of the Whaling Affairs Office in Japan’s Fisheries Agency, stated that Japan’s recent Antarctic expeditions did not involve killing whales but focused on collecting numbers and skin surface samples.

Tokoro claims that the Kangei Maru will not hunt whales beyond Japanese waters due to economic impracticality. “Commercial whaling is not profitable,” he said. “It takes 50 days to reach the Antarctic and return, and we are not confident we can make a profit. However, I will go if the government orders it.”

Activists remain skeptical. “Given the ship’s long-range capabilities and drones, and Japan’s interest in hunting fin whales, we believe there is a high likelihood of Japanese whalers returning to the Southern Ocean,” said James Anderson, founder of the Whale Defense Agency (WDA). “Protecting this critical habitat for many whale species is more important than ever.”

Rothwell warned that any move to kill whales beyond Japan’s territorial waters would trigger an international response. “It would draw global attention and action for whale conservation, especially in IWC-sanctioned whale sanctuaries,” he said.

Watson, the anti-whaling activist, is prepared for a physical response, having acquired a former Japanese fisheries patrol vessel to intercept whalers in the Antarctic.

“It’s called the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary for a reason – you don’t kill whales there,” Watson said. “We are ready to track them down and intercept them, just like before.”