It seems that there is trouble afoot with Japan-Australian relations. A Japanese pro-whaling video is calling Australia a racist nation and uses images from the infamous Cronulla riots and other potentially Australian video clips. This 10-minute video goes on to accuse Australia of white supremacy, exclusionary nationalism, a racist ideology and of prejudice against the Japanese.
Whoever made the video likely gave very little thought to the already strained relations between the two nations regarding the whaling issue.
The Japanese whaling fleet is already in Antarctica and is expected to kill upwards of 1000 whales under the guise of scientific research. From there, the dead animals will be returned to Japan where the meat will be carved up and sold on the open market. While I’m not particularly fond of the practice, only the specific species of whale being hunted is on the Endangered Species List. On top of that, how is the slaughter of the world’s largest mammals any different from the “processing” of millions of chickens and cattle every week?
I won’t get into the argument of saying what’s right or wrong, but this video goes about defending the act of whaling in the worst possible way. I’ve included it here so you can see for yourself.
The Australian government has already said that no amount of bullying would make it support whaling by Japan (or Denmark and Iceland), and it’s expected that the Japanese fleet will be monitored by Australian vessels before too long. It’s expected that an unarmed customs vessel will depart Fremantle this week to do the watching.
Aerial surveillance plans have been stalled as the firm that operates the A319 aircraft, Skytraders, awaits approval for low-altitude flights. It lodged it’s application only last week, so might not get approval for another few days.
What do you think of this video? Does it go too far? Calling a nation racist is a pretty big thing to do and, seeing as how I can’t rent an apartment with some landlords in this country because I’m Caucasian, it’s pretty hypocritical. How would you respond if you were Australia?
I too saw this Video as was thinking about submitting it! I am Australian and will not defend Australia on certain issues but will say this; Australia is the oldest land mass in the world and naturally we have more species of animals that have become extinct.
I feel Australia has quite a lot to answer for in regards to the way it has treated Aboriginals and many other areas of it’s society. However, i thought the video was childish and showed a great lack of intelligence. Whoever made the video obviously knows very little of Australia and has failed in their attempt to get the message across in an intelligent and thought-provoking manner.
Australia has it’s problems and there are quite a few things that need to be addressed. Unfortunately for the idiot or idiots that made this video, they have made Japan look ignorant and the facts in this video are ridiculous to say the least.
If more time had been spent on researching the negative aspects of Australia, I’m sure one could come up with a very damming resume on my country.
No country can say it has a pure past. Japan has a great many wonderful things it can be proud of but, this video is not one of them!! Also if Japan wants to play Tit-for-tat about all the negative issues of both countries (Past and present) I know which country has way, way more to answer for!!!!!
Keith
I am not a nationalist. So when I see extreme nationalism, I get a surprise. Yes Australia has such people too! And indeed we also have gung-ho types. The sort of sentiments emanating then from Japan, I liken to those I saw decades ago here in Oz in mining industry leaders. One guy I worked for showed me a map of Western Australia with big pink splotches (Aboriginal reserves) that he wanted to mine in! I also recall the State Emergency Services headquarters there; its office walls were covered with naval memorabilia. This was obviously a retirement home for the military! So the Institute of Cetacean Research must be the pocket of resistance where the vestiges of the Imperial Japanese Navy hang out.
I agree on all counts here. Nationalists are scary people … almost as scary as the fundamental religious types. While I can certainly understand some of the sentiments these people have, as well as why they have them, I cannot agree with any action that tries to slander the other while remaining silent about their own (more recent) faults.
As a Canadian, I know my nation is far from innocent when it comes to a great many things (aboriginal abuses for the last 500+ years that are still ongoing, the clear-cutting of huge forests to make sawdust, the excessive fresh-water pollution due to insanely lax environmental policies … heck, I could go on for days about this stuff), but there are just certain things that you don’t do. Making a video like this is one of them.
Luckily, this video was not paid for, supported or endorsed by the sitting government of this nation, but it doesn’t make it any less serious. I’d really like to see some kind of action taken against these people but, from what I’ve learned, there are no laws in this country about slander.
This could be both a good thing and a bad thing … but with tensions between Japan and Australia already at such a high level, it’s not cool for any Japanese citizen to be making one-sided videos like this and posting them for the world to see.