@article {7111,
	title = {Japan, the West, and the whaling issue: understanding the Japanese side},
	journal = {Japan Forum},
	volume = {17},
	number = {1},
	year = {2005},
	note = {Awarded prize for best article published in Japan Forum in 2005.},
	month = {March},
	abstract = {This article examines the dispute over whaling from the perspective of Japan, a country fiercely protective of its right to whale. It outlines the key roles played by transnational environmental actors in defining and instituting an international norm of anti-whaling, symbolized in the passage of the moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982. This signaled a rejection of previously held attitudes towards the use of whales as natural resources and the embracing of a protectionist, hands-off approach. Support for this new stance, however, was not forthcoming from pro-whaling states Japan, Norway and Iceland. By analyzing Japan{\textquoteright}s original objection to the moratorium, its later compliance, and then its commitment to the resumption of limited commercial whaling, this article outlines the principles that underpin Japan{\textquoteright}s whaling policy. While the Japanese government views the whaling dispute as a threat to resource security and a danger to inter-state respect for differences in custom and cuisine, the need to be perceived as a responsible member of international society exercises a major influence on the formation of Japan{\textquoteright}s whaling policy, conditioning its rule compliance and prohibiting the independent action pursued by other pro-whaling states. Recent developments in the whaling dispute, however, may be enough to dislodge Japan{\textquoteright}s commitment to the moratorium, which would impact upon the legitimacy of the International Whaling Commission.},
	author = {Catalinac, Amy L. and Gerald Chan}
}
