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The Japanese fishing village featured in
"The Cove," which won an Oscar for best documentary, defended its
practice of hunting dolphins Monday as a part of a long tradition.

      The movie, which mixes stunning underwater shots of gliding
dolphins with covertly filmed grisly footage of their slaughter,
also claims that dolphin meat is laden with toxic mercury.

      Taiji, a quiet fishing village on the rocky coast of
southwestern Japan, kills only a small fraction of the dolphins
hunted by the country each year. But it has long been a target of
environmentalists and animal lovers because it uses a method called
"oikomi," in which the dolphins are chased into shore, making the
hunt more visible.


      Though few residents said they had seen the film, there was
universal disgust at its portrayal of the town. Taiji proudly bills
itself as "Whale Town" and a main bridge is adorned with dolphin
statues, but after years of what locals see as unfair treatment by
the foreign press, few are willing to talk on the record. One young
dolphin trainer turned and ran away when asked for her opinion.

      "This is a close-knit group of fishermen. The more they feel
squeezed, the more they will close off to outsiders. They won't
stop this hunt because of such pressure," said Hisato Ryono, a
local councilman who appears in the film.

      The mayor's office handed out a statement that said Taiji's
dolphin hunt is lawful and argued that the movie contained
statements that were not based on science. Otherwise, most town
officials refused to talk.

      "There are different food traditions within Japan and around
the world," the statement read. "It is important to respect and
understand regional food cultures, which are based on traditions
with long histories."


      Director Louie Psihoyos said "The Cove" isn't meant to bash
Japan but that it is "a love letter to the Japanese people."

      "Our hope is the Japanese people will see this film and decide
themselves whether animals should be used for meat and for
entertainment," Psihoyos said backstage after receiving the Oscar
at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.


      The town of Taiji kills about 2,000 dolphins every year for
their meat. Some are captured and sold to aquariums.

      The Japanese government, which allows about 19,000 dolphins to
be killed each year, acknowledges that dolphin meat is contaminated
with mercury, but denies it's dangerous unless consumed in huge
quantities.


      In September, amid an international outcry following the
screening of the movie abroad, villagers released several dozen
dolphins that had been caught. But locals say they will continue
with the hunt.


      The movie has not yet been released in Japan, but it will start
showing here in June at 20 to 30 theaters nationwide. It was shown
at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October, where viewers
gave it mixed reviews.


      Still, most Japanese don't know about the annual dolphin hunt,
and dolphin meat is hardly eaten in Japan.

      Takeshi Kato, president of Unplugged in Tokyo, which is
distributing the film in Japan, said the faces of dozens of Taiji
residents are being blurred out for the Japan version to ward off
possible lawsuits under Japanese law that protects privacy.


      "Our purpose is not to attack the people of Taiji," he said.

      "If this movie can serve as an opportunity for people to find
out, it would be great," he told The Associated Press on Monday.

      He said he hopes the film will help open the debate in Japan on
preserving nature, including dolphins and whales.

      "Receiving the top award in the movie industry will work as a
big plus for our efforts to show this movie in Japan," he said.

      Ryono, the local councilman, and Tetsuya Endo, an associate
professor at Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, both appear in
the current version of the film and say they were interviewed under
false pretenses. Both say they have asked the filmmakers to remove
footage, and Endo says he hasn't ruled out legal action.

      "I feel that they should have declined the award," Endo said.

      Psihoyos was unable to get permission to access the cove where
the dolphins are killed. Fishermen blocked it with barbed wire and
fences. So he and his film team secretly broke into the restricted
area - which is in a national park - at night to set up cameras
that capture the slaughter.

      Japanese government officials have defended the fishermen's
right to hunt dolphins and called the film unbalanced.

      "There are some countries that eat cows, and there are other
countries that eat whales or dolphins," said Yutaka Aoki,
fisheries division director at Foreign Ministry. "A film about
slaughtering cows or pigs might also be unwelcome to workers in
that industry."


      Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama and Malcolm Foster
contributed to this report from Tokyo.

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Arts and Culture

The Japanese fishing village featured in
"The Cove," which won an Oscar for best documentary, defended its
practice of hunting dolphins Monday as a part of a long tradition.


Japan defends dolphin hunt in Oscar-winning 'Cove'

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