After The Cove

By: By Louie Psihoyos | June 11, 2010 | Politics

Censorship in Japan

The Cove has played in some 30 countries, but the most critical audience is the Japanese people. Very few people in the world’s second largest economy know about what goes on in Taiji, Japan — and they need to. The film is, in many ways, intended for the Japanese people to increase their awareness of the cruelty to animals that goes on right under their noses, and also, more importantly, for their health and the health of their families.

My team placed hidden cameras in fake rocks designed by a Hollywood special effects house to uncover the atrocities that occur in Taiji with horrifying and rhythmic frequency. These dolphins are sold for food, but it’s the captive-dolphin industry that feeds the machine, as a trained dolphin can be sold for up to $200,000.

Partly in response to the IWC’s watershed moratorium on whaling, which was enacted in 1986, the Japanese began hunting dolphins in record number. The IWC affords no protection for 71 (out of 80 known) cetacean species, including all dolphins and porpoises. One of the only times representatives from the captive-dolphin industry (i.e. SeaWorld, Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquaria, etc.) showed up at the IWC’s annual meeting was to oppose IWC protections for the very animals they claim to conserve. The whaling countries do not want their industry regulated because they enjoy eating their meat, consider it part of their culture and benefit financially from the demand for captive dolphins. The main concern for those in the captive-dolphin industry is that IWC policy does not interfere with their $8.4 billion-dollar industry.

Although dolphin meat is known to be toxic, it was served as a part of a mandatory lunch program to Japanese school children until The Cove was released. In my view, one of the largest victories resulting from the release of the film is the fact that tens of thousands of children will never be served toxic meat because of the efforts of noted activist Ric O’Barry and our organization.

The official Taiji government response to our film comes down to one word: tradition. They claim that selling dolphin meat has always been a way of life, but what’s critical to realize is that it’s not a Japanese tradition — it is perhaps the dying tradition of very few people, who sadly do not have access to information regarding health risks and consequences. Slavery and not allowing women to vote were once considered traditions in America, however when human rights are violated, traditions can no longer be allowed to continue. In this case, the “tradition” is a myth perpetrated by the few that benefit from the sale of captive dolphins and a cover-up to prevent the truth about the dolphin meat that is poisoning the masses.

Recently, a press conference was held revealing the results of mercury testing on 1,137 Taiji residents. Officials proclaimed that although Taiji locals had mercury levels 10 times the national average, there were no related signs of illness found in the studies’ participants, as reported in The Japan Times in May. Notably, two-point discrimination tests were not conducted on any of the test subjects, which would have detected neural damage to the cerebral cortex or neurons. (The two-point discrimination test is the assessment standard set by Japan’s Supreme Court for compensating Minimata victims who, 50 years ago, became the international symbols for industrial pollution and the discovery of mercury poisoning.)

According to the World Health Organization, 50 parts per million is the threshold above which mercury poisoning can occur. More than 40 Taiji residents tested above 50 ppm for mercury, with the highest concentration found at 139 ppm. Dr. Koji Okamoto, the lead researcher in the study, gave no dietary advice to the 100 residents collected at a town hall to hear the results of the study, offering only, as it was reported in The Japan Times this May, “It’s important that they decide what they should eat.” Reporters questioned how there could possibly be no symptoms, but Okamoto and officials were at a loss to explain the absence of health effects , as reported by the Associated Press in May.

While much of our film is shocking to watch, in reality, viewers are seeing a relatively censored version of what happens in the Taiji cove. We had to dial back the violence we captured to get a PG-13 rating, as we wanted the film to reach as wide an audience as possible. More than one million people from countries all around the world have signed our petition to stop the slaughter, and although the Japanese people are being denied the truth, not just about the slaughter, but about their health, getting the film released in theaters there is still proving to be an epic struggle.

Aggressive rioters who would prevent the film from being seen there have targeted the film’s distributor in Japan. For the last several weeks, Japanese police have been called in to provide protection from the gang-like protestors who park their megaphone vans on the street outside the distributor’s home. They are banging down the front door, threatening not just the distributor, but also his family in an attempt to scare him into pulling the film from Japanese theaters. The protesters’ persistence is remarkable. Having maintained such intensity over a period of weeks raises the question of not whether, but who might be paying them.

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