With the Australian government, Greenpeace and Sea Shephard watching and tracking the two Japanese whaling vessels it seems all the whales are gone. But when the Japanese whalers can’t harpoon any whales they take hostages and make illegal fuel stops instead.

Now an article has appeared in Shukan Toyo Keizai, one of Japan’s leading newspapers, were they encourage Japan to “re-examine the whaling issue”.

Being one of the few issues on which Japan has made a stand against the United States and European countries, the stance of whaling hardliners could also be a vent for narrow-minded nationalism. In the end, that could easily be detrimental to national interests. Perhaps the Japanese people need to take this opportunity to re-examine the whaling issue for themselves.

Making Waves has the full translation here.