KEY POINTS:
Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean has been cut short this summer. But much as we in Australia and New Zealand wanted Japan to stop whaling, we did not want it to be because of a tragic accident, especially one that resulted in the loss of a young
Japanese life.
What we wanted was for Japan to actively make the right decision that would lead to the end of its whaling era. Unfortunately, Japan is most likely to come back to the Southern Ocean next summer with renewed determination.
Many people in Australia and New Zealand wonder why Japan is so good at ignoring our protests, our strong anti-whaling voice. This can be a mystery. But as a journalist who has access to both languages and cultures, I can shed some light.
We need to look at Japanese post-war history and the issue of communication and language.
Japan's recovery from the war was considered such a miracle that it is mentioned in today's history textbooks. While the Japanese ethos of hard work and the American military's need for cheap labour contributed, whaling was one of the components that helped Japan to recover.
There is still a lot of sentimental feeling towards whale meat because of this. Not only was whaling a viable industry that used ex-military ships, it filled Japanese stomachs during an extreme food crisis.
Since then, Japan has become the world's second biggest economy, chasing after and acquiring the material wealth of its former enemy. Japan is now proudly Americanised, even referring to itself as the 51st state of America. Some Japanese think they are closer to America than the Canadians.
Except there is one very important difference - the English language.
English is the major language of communication across the world. The development of transportation and information technologies, combined with the rise of the American empire after World War II, have enabled English to become the dominant language of the planet.
Yet in Japan, English is not spoken at all among the Japanese. It is virtually a mono-lingual society. Japan has the lowest English-speaking population per head among developed countries. The lack of English proficiency limits access to global information.
We imagine we can hear the voice of the smallest minority by accessing the internet. The internet is a tool to discover all sorts of information, about all sorts of things. But the breadth and variety is not as accessible without fluency in English. And if you are the average Japanese, you are able to access information only in Japanese, which is restricted in scope.
The normal understanding of the worldwide internet does not apply to the Japanese. What they call the internet is rather the domestic "Japnet".
Of course, they are able to receive translated information. But given the difficulties of literal translation, this is "Japanised" to make it understandable within the Japanese community.
This Japanisation process takes place every day in every corner of Japan, as the vast majority of Japanese receive international news, on anything from Paris Hilton to world politics, only in Japanese.
That is a rather unique position in today's English language-based worldwide society. What Bill Murray feels in the movie Lost in Translation is the reality of everyday life for the average Japanese - and they don't even realise they are being isolated or "lost" because all other Japanese are in the same "lost" status.
This makes it difficult for the Japanese to hear what the rest of the world is saying.
Whaling is one major issue that is viewed totally differently once you cross the Japanese border.
And taking into account alternative perspectives in general is limited among the Japanese in comparison to Australians and New Zealanders.
As Japan is predominantly composed of a single race and its culture, the Japanese don't have the same need to understand others in their everyday lives. They are rarely confronted by difference.
Everybody behaves according to their expectations, and this makes debate an unnecessary item. In fact debate is not a part of the school curriculum.
Many Japanese first learn the concept of critical thinking when they study at Western universities. The good student or good citizen in Japanese society is one who behaves according to the model.
Considering this environment, it is not difficult to see why the anti-whaling voice is not recognised in Japan - nine out of 10 Japanese are still ignorant of Japan's annual "scientific" whaling in the Southern Ocean.
As a result, Japan's Fishery Agency has no need to defend its whaling view to citizens because there is no opposition.
It is true that the majority of Japanese tend to support whaling activities, but this opinion is not built on an understanding of whaling and related environmental issues. They are supporting whaling ignorantly.
Unfortunately, the Japanese are unlikely to break the cycle of not acknowledging non-Japanese thoughts and values.
Japan is a developed country, both in economy and technologies. It does not need to embrace foreign values or ways to increase its status. It is not dependent on the West like a developing country.
There is no significant social or material benefit to the Japanese in being able to speak English. Without the need for English, the average Japanese will not learn to speak it.
And it is just as unlikely that anything more than a handful of Australians and New Zealanders will master enough Japanese to converse in depth, given the difficulty of the language.
Do we genuinely want to stop Japan from whaling? While there may not be an immediate solution, there must be some ways in which we could improve the situation and open pathways to debate.
But as yet I have seen minimal effort to break the fundamental communication and language barriers that exist.
* Tets Kimura is an Australian journalist of Japanese background based in Adelaide.
