Japan says it is to restart commercial whaling in July in a move that is likely to draw international criticism. It said it would withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the body tasked with whale conservation. Commercial whaling was banned by the IWC in 1986 after some species were driven almost to extinction. Officials …
Japan offers apology, money to victims of forced sterilization
The Shinzo Abe government pledged on Wednesday to pay out 3.2 million yen ($28,600, €25,500) to every survivor of forced sterilization after years of rejecting compensation claims. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga offered “sincere remorse and heartfelt apology” following a parliamentary vote in favor of the redress measures. Some 16,500 people were forcibly sterilized under Japan’s …
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Japan returns to business of whale hunting
Japanese hunters killed at least two whales in the first commercial whale hunt in more than 30 years. Japan stopped commercial whaling in 1988 after the International Whaling Commission, or IWC, banned the killing of whales. However, last December, Japan said it would leave the IWC on June 30. Japan has long disputed the idea that whales …
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