Mr. Renpei Komatsu is a journalist for whom I embrace a warm respect. Mr. Komatsu had formerly been a talented reporter on social affairs for the Asahi Newspaper. At one time, he had been a TV caster who enjoyed wide-ranging popularity among viewers.

  In my personal affairs, he was a match-maker between my wife and me. When I started dating her, my wife was a great fan of Mr. Komatsu. When I happened to learn about her admiration for Mr. Komatsu, I boasted to her, in an attempt to please her, that I am his close acquaintance and would arrange a meeting with him for us.

  Enraptured with my promise, she kept on asking when we could meet him. Each time I gave her a noncommittal answer of "I will do it shortly," but frankly I felt somewhat embarrassed about my boast. Although I knew Mr. Komatsu through my job in the mass media society, my acquaintance with him was far from intimate, and I had no assurance asking him to give us time to dine with us. But one day I summoned up my courage and asked him to give us that chance. To my surprise, he accepted my request willingly. That occasion pushed me a step forward toward engagement with her, and Mr. Komatsu attended our wedding ceremony.

  So much for the beginning of my relationship with Mr. Komatsu. He is the author of a prominent book entitled "Reportage: the Sea of Whales," published by the Asahi Newspaper in 1973. This book resulted from his experience of being onboard the "last Antarctic whaling fleet" for 117 days in the autumn of 1972 when a 10-year moratorium on commercial whaling was adopted by a majority vote at the U.N. Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm in June. Then deputy director in charge of social affairs at the Asahi, Mr. Komatsu tried to respond, from the perspective of the whaling crew, to the question whether Japan was really engaged in so infamous whaling activities deserving international criticism.

  Also, 22 years earlier, when he was in the Agricultural Department of Tokyo University, Mr. Komatsu had the experience of joining the 5th Antarctic whaling expedition.

  In the book, he tells that he listened carefully to talks on whales and observed the brave work of whalers onboard whaling ships, and tasted, with much cherish, fresh delicious whale portions, such as "myakutsubo" (backside of the pectoral fin), "nodo-tsuru" (the uvula), and "osane" (baleen root), saying this was the privilege of those who ventured as far as the Antarctic. When the fleet returned to Kobe, he felt as if he had truly become a man of the sea.

  He rebutted the vociferous criticism of opponents of whaling as follows: "Over the past few years, the U.S.-led group of countries, including Britain, Mexico, and Argentina, has been urging the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for a 10-year ban of whaling on the pretext of preserving the resources and the environment. They argued the Japanese would not suffer hunger even if they don't eat whales--the Japanese can go perfectly well without whales."

  "I cannot help thinking that their argument entails insensible judgment because those countries have vast lands suited for cattle raising and the people are brought up in a food culture of eating bacon in the morning and steak in the evening. Up until only 10 years ago they are the countries that had discarded whale meat as garbage into the sea. And other countries are now supporting their argument. The former whaling countries lost no time in abandoning whaling when they knew that the whale oil market slumped and that an expedition to the Antarctic was no longer profitable. This is an argument of countries that engaged in the formidable abuse of the resources in the Antarctic whaling until recently, while having no knowledge of the presence of the Japanese-type whaling that fully utilized the resources."

  "Mr. Komatsu also wrote: "Do those people know the fact that the Japanese racked their brains on how best they could process whales, enhance the product quality, and bring them to consumers by devising various ways of cooking whales?�E/p>

  Reading the book again, I find this reportage has not at all lost its luster even today. The question the reporter Komatsu felt at that time still persists to this day.

  As I was born in November 1945, I spent my boyhood in the prime time of whale meat supply in our diet. Children in my generation were taught at school that the whale was a valuable protein source for the Japanese, and it is a remarkable mammal that can be used in its entirety from oil to baleen.

  It has been a long time since we see our one-time favorites such as whale cutlet and bacon on our table. Whale tailmeat, which we can have only at specialized whale restaurants, fetches a much higher price than the best parts of tuna--meaning that it has become a food beyond the reach of ordinary people.

  Ironically, it is now said that the prohibition of whaling for a lengthy duration has been causing an increase in the whale population, and whales are now consuming large quantities of fish, causing a decline in fish resources and also an imbalance in the marine ecosystem.

  Can we save whales without protecting the earth? I am one who wishes to continue my effort in letting the world know the "Japanese wisdom" in which both whales and humans coexist.