If I had a year to learn more about a topic of my choice, I would study the Japanese whaling industry. Although whaling in Japan began in the 12th century, Japan's involvement in the whaling industry began in the 1890s. The international whaling industry functioned normally until 1925, when the League of Nations called for conservation measures in 1925. This eventually led to the Geneva Convention for the Regulation of Whaling in 1931, which was ignored by Japan and Germany. Instead, as whale catches declined in coastal waters, Japanese whalers looked to Antarctica. It all started with the purchase of the Norwegian ship Antarctic by the Japanese company Toyo Hogei KK, renaming it Tonan Maru. However, World War II soon followed and the Japanese whaling industry was reduced to familiar hunting grounds. Whaling in Japan was stopped in March 1945 when the Japanese islands were conquered by US forces. In November 1945 the Japanese whaling stations reopened; however, most of the whaling ships had been requisitioned by the Japanese navy, thus crushing the Japanese whaling industry. The United States continued to encourage Japan to continue whaling to provide a cheap source of meat. Eventually, the Japanese whaling industry recovered when Japanese whalers returned to Antarctica. During the filming period, the Australian Kenneth Coonan criticized Lieutenant David McCracken, the naval officer who oversaw the first post-war whaling expedition, after observing waste dumped into the sea. of a whaling ship when the fleet killed whales at a faster rate than they were processed. This expedition was the first of many for McCracken, who eventually described his travels in the book Four Months on a Japanese Whaling Ship. After the International C...... middle of the document ...... to Japan's influence on other international shipping Nations of the Whaling Conference. In 1982, the International Whaling Commission approved a moratorium that went into effect in 1986. Japan opposed this moratorium and continued whaling. In 2009, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, after 50 years in power, was defeated by the Democratic Party of Japan. While environmentalists hoped that this would cause a change in Japan's attitude towards whaling, the new government stated that whaling would continue to receive support as a political issue. Japan has continued whaling despite numerous calls to stop it. If I were to investigate this issue, I would talk to Japanese officials about the reasons they continue whaling. I would also interview officials from anti-whaling nations, asking them for their version of events. This is how I would investigate the Japanese whaling industry.