is a
townA town is a local administrative unit in Japan. It is a local public body along with prefecture , city , and village...
located in
Higashimuro DistrictHigashimuro is a district located in Wakayama, Japan. As of September 1, 2008, the district has an estimated Population of 43,306 and a Density of 64.8 persons/km²...
,
Wakayamais a prefecture of Japan located on the Kii Peninsula in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Wakayama.- History :Present-day Wakayama is mostly the western part of the province of Kii.-Cities:...
,
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
As of 2007, the town has an estimated
populationIn biology, a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular species; in sociology, a collection of human beings. Individuals within a population share a factor may be reduced by statistical means, but such a generalization may be too vague to imply anything...
of 3,444 and a
densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
of 577.85 persons per km². The total area is 5.96 km². Taiji is the smallest local government by area in Wakayama Prefecture because, unlike others, it has not experienced a merger since 1889 when the village of Moriura merged into Taiji. Taiji shares its entire overland border with the town of
Nachikatsuurais a town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama, Japan.As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 18,795 and a density of 102.45 persons per km². The total area is 183.45 km²....
and faces the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
. Taiji has been well-known as a whaling town and is considered as the birth place of Japan's traditional whaling method. Taiji is a major center for
dolphin drive huntingDolphin drive hunting, also called dolphin drive fishing, is a method of hunting dolphins and occasionally other small cetaceans by driving them together with boats and then usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the open sea or ocean with boats...
.
History
Taiji was primarily known as a whaling town. Japanese traditional whaling techniques were dramatically developed here in the 17th century, and the commercial hunting of
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly...
s remains a major source of income for its residents to this day. Wada Chūbei organized the group hunting system (刺手組) and introduced new handheld harpoon in 1606. Wada Kakuemon, later known as Taiji Kakuemon, invented the whaling net technique called
Amitori hō (網取法) to increase the safety and efficiency of whaling. This method lasted more than 200 years.
The town was dealt a massive blow in 1878 when an accident during a hunt claimed more than 100 lives, which resulted in the collapse of the group hunting system. Taiji's whaling industry became buoyant again after the
Russo-Japanese WarThe Russo-Japanese War or the Manchurian Campaign in some English sources, was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
as it became a base for modern whaling. In 1988, Taiji suspended their commercial whaling as a result of an
IWCThe International Whaling Commission is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling , which was signed in Washington, D.C...
ruling.
Museums
- Taiji Whale Museum opened in 1969. It exhibits more than 1,000 items in relation to whales and whaling including skeletal preparations of several whale species.
- Hiromitsu Ochiai Baseball Museum commemorates Japanese baseball player Hiromitsu Ochiai
Hiromitsu Ochiai is currently manager of the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball...
who won the triple crownIn baseball, the Triple Crown refers to:#A batter who leads the league in three major categories -- home runs, runs batted in, and batting average....
three times in the Japanese Baseball LeagueFor the current Japanese Professional League, see Nippon Professional Baseball. was a professional baseball league in Japan.It was established on February 5, 1936 as "Japan Occupational Baseball League". Then it was renamed "Japanese Baseball League" in 1939. It was run until 1949. There was no...
.
- Ishigaki Museum commemorates painter Eitaro Ishigaki who hailed from Taiji. His wife Ayako, a critic, founded the museum in 1991.
Onsens (Spas)
There are two small-scale
onsenAn is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. A volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth...
s (Japanese-style spas) in the town.
- Taiji Onsen
- Natsusa (or Nassa) Onsen
Festivals
Taiji's summer festival is called the Taiji Isana Festival that is held annually on August 14.
Isana is an old Japanese word for whales. Its autumn festival is called the Taiji Kujira Festival (
kuijra means whales in Japanese) that is annually held on the first Sunday of November. Both the festivals are heavily whale-themed and the attractions include the Kujira Odori (lit. whale dance) and the Kujira Daiko (lit. whale drumming). The Kujira Odori is a traditional dance that whalers used to perform to celebrate a good catch. This dance is unique in that the dancers only use their upper body as they dance sitting on whaling boats. It is identified as intangible cultural heritage by Wakayama Prefecture. The Kujira Daiko is also traditional and it describes a battle between a big whale and small whaling boats by drumming.
Railway
The
Kisei Main Line|}The is a railway line that runs along the southern coastline of the Kii Peninsula in Japan, between Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. The name takes the kanji characters from the names of the old provinces of and ....
of
JR West, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group companies and operates in western Honshū.-History:JR West was incorporated as a business corporation on April 1, 1987 as part of the breakup of government-owned Japanese National Railways...
runs through Taiji. Taiji station is the only station in the town and is located just outside the Moriura area. A circular bus service is available to connect to the main area of Taiji. All the regular trains and some of express trains stop at the station.
Roads
The main roads that run through Taiji are as follows.
- National highway
Japan has a nationwide system of distinct from the expressways. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and other government agencies administer the national highways. Beginning in 1952, Japan classified these as Class 1 or Class 2. Class 1 highways had one- or two-digit numbers, while...
route 42
- Wakayama prefectural road
A in Japan is a road numbered by the prefecture, independent of other prefectures.- See also:* National highways of Japan* Expressways of Japan*...
route 289
- Wakayama prefectural road route 240
Education
Taiji has one Elementary school (Taiji Elementary School) and one junior high school (Taiji Junior High School). There is no high school or university.
Annual dolphin hunt and its criticism
According to the Japanese Fisheries Research Agency, 1,623 dolphins were caught in Wakayama Prefecture in 2007 for human consumption or resale to
dolphinariumA dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a large pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or for public performances. Some dolphinariums consist of one pool where dolphins perform for the public, others have expanded...
s, and most of these were caught at Taiji.
The annual
dolphin drive huntingDolphin drive hunting, also called dolphin drive fishing, is a method of hunting dolphins and occasionally other small cetaceans by driving them together with boats and then usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the open sea or ocean with boats...
provides income for local residents. Researchers have found high concentrations of
mercuryMercury commonly refers to:* Mercury , a Roman god* Mercury , the nearest planet to the Sun in the solar system* Mercury , the chemical elementMercury may also refer to:-Geography:* Mercury, Nevada, United States...
in Taiji residents who eat dolphin meat.
In 1979, environmental filmmaker
Hardy JonesHardy Jones is a wildlife and conservation filmmaker. He began his career in radio at WNOE in New Orleans and has worked for United Press International, The Peruvian Times, and CBS News. He has been a television documentary producer since 1978 when he made his first film, entitled DOLPHIN, with...
first went to Taiji to attempt to free 200
melon-headed whaleThe Melon-headed Whale is a cetacean of the oceanic dolphin family . It is closely related to the Pygmy Killer Whale and Pilot Whale, and collectively these dolphin species are known by the common name blackfish...
s which had been captured by fishermen for food for lions at the Shirahama Zoo. Jones, who founded BlueVoice.org with film star
Ted DansonEdward Bridge “Ted” Danson III is an American actor best known for his role as central character Sam Malone in the sitcom Cheers, and his role as Dr. John Becker on the series Becker. He is currently a regular on Larry David's HBO sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm and starred alongside Glenn Close in...
in 2000, has returned to Taiji numerous times to try to stop the
capture of dolphins and small whalesWhaling in Japan may have begun as early as the 12th century. During the 20th century Japan was heavily involved in commercial whaling. However, due to a moratorium on commercial whaling by the International Whaling Commission, Japanese whaling is currently restricted to hunts conducted by the...
. His film
The Dolphin Defender, produced by the PBS series
NatureNature is a long-running wildlife television program produced by Thirteen/WNET New York. It has been distributed to United States public television stations by the PBS television service since its debut on October 10, 1982. Some episodes may appear in syndication on many PBS member stations around...
documents these events. Hunting of
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly...
s for commercial purposes in Taiji still continues.
In 2003, two activists were arrested for cutting a net to release captured dolphins. They spent 23 days in jail.
Other celebrities have protested the dolphin killings as well. On November 1, 2007
Hayden Panettierethumb|right|Panettiere at the Heroes Season Three Premiere Party, Edison L.A., Downtown Los Angeles - Sept. 7, 2008Hayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer...
was confronted by Japanese fishermen, as she and several other activists were interfering with their annual hunt by attempting "to rescue a pool of dolphins captured in fishing nets." She drove straight to an airport with her fellow activists and left the country "to avoid being arrested for trespassing by the
Japanese policeThe is an agency administered by the National Public Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office in the cabinet of Japan, and is the central coordinating agency of the Japanese police system....
". Many Japanese consider this kind of act to be an attack on their culture. Taiji's fishery cooperative union argues that these protesters "continue willfully to distort the facts about this fishery" and their agendas are "based neither on international law nor on science but rather on emotion for economic self-interest."
Japanese noise musician Masami Akita, more commonly known as
Merzbowis a noise project created in Tokyo, Japan in 1979 under the direction of noise technician . Since 1979, he has formed two record labels and has contributed releases to numerous independent record labels. As well as being a prolific artist, he has also written a number of books and has been the...
, has produced an album,
Dolphin SonarDolphin Sonar is a studio album by Japanese noise musician Merzbow, released in August of 2008. The album consist on a suite called Dolphin Sonar divided on 3 parts. Merzbow as a PETA activist made this album on protest of the annual brutal slaughtering of some 2,500 dolphins in Japan.-Track listing:...
, as a protest against these annual dolphin killings.
A film titled
The Cove (formerly
The Rising) was secretly recorded with high-tech video and sound equipment in Taiji. This full-length documentary was funded by billionaire
James H. ClarkDr. James H. Clark is a prolific entrepreneur and former computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Inc., Netscape Communications Corporation, myCFO and Healtheon. His research work in computer graphics lead to the development of...
and shows controversial dolphin killing techniques as well as high mercury levels in Taiji dolphin meat. The film won the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual
Sundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in the state of Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as the Sundance Resort, the festival is the premier...
in
Park City, UtahPark City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is one of two major resort towns in Utah, the other being Moab. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back and a part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area...
, United States in January 2009.
Sister cities
- Broome, Western Australia
Broome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 2200 km north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,436, growing to more than 45,000 per month during the tourist season...
(Australia) since 1981; suspended by the Broome city council in August 2009 in protest against the annual dolphin slaughter. The decision on suspension was reversed in October 2009
- Hakuba, Nagano
is a village located in Kitaazumi District, Nagano, Japan.-Town:As of 2007, the village has an estimated population of 9,246 and a density of 50.71 persons per km². The total area is 182.34 km²....
(Japan) since 1984
Notable people
- Kiwako Taichi
Kiwako Taichi was a Japanese film actress. She appeared in 20 films between 1967 and 1985.-Selected filmography:* Kuroneko * Fire Festival -External links:...
(1943–1992): an actress; she took her stage name from her birthplace, although she decided to pronounce it as Taichi instead of Taiji.
See also
- Drive hunting in Japan
- The Taiji Twelve
The Taiji Twelve is a term used by anti-dolphin hunting campaigners to describe a group of dolphins captured in a dolphin drive hunt outside of the town of Taiji, Wakayama, Japan in October 2006...
External links