The annual slaughter of dolphins has begun at Taiji, Japan over the objections of protesters and the US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy.  But one famous ex-pat is appealing to Japan’s perpetual neurosis about its place in the world to retune the way it thinks about killing animals that everyone likes.

Two days after Kennedy tweeted America’s objections, Yoko Ono published an open letter to the people of Taiji and urged them to stop the dolphin slaughter for “the future of Japan”.

The widow of John Lennon wrote:

“I am sure that it is not easy, but please consider the safety of the future of Japan, surrounded by many powerful countries which are always looking for the chance to weaken the power of our country.

“At this very politically sensitive time, (the hunt) will make the children of the world hate the Japanese.

“For many, many years and decades we have worked hard to receive true understanding of the Japanese from the world.

“But what we enjoy now, can be destroyed literally in one day. I beg of you to consider our precarious situation after the nuclear disaster (which could very well affect the rest of the world, as well).”

 

Unfortunately, those words didn’t get much of a chance to sink in.  The cull has begun, and the water of the little cove in Wakayama prefecture is red and thick with the blood of dolphins.  Activists say about 500 animals were herded into the shallow water and trapped with a net.  The dolphin killers of Taiji like to say they’re following an old tradition, but the fact is that modern drive hunting began there in 1969.