Following the Japanese governments admission and apology for embezzlement related to Japan’s whaling policy and industry (whaling officials finally acknowledged accepting whale meat ‘gifts’ from the company conducting whale hunts, Kyodo Senpaku), Greenpeace is urging the initiation of an official investigation into this matter.

As the ailing and fraudulent ‘scientific’ Japanese whaling fleet conducts a greatly reduced hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, the Fisheries Agency of Japan (FAJ) has been forced to apologise for the misconduct of five officials who accepted gifts of whale meat totalling approximately US$3,000. A further two key officials – including the FAJ’s second in command and prominent IWC negotiator, Jun Yamashita – were handed warnings, as they were ultimately responsible for the actions of their staff.

The FAJ’s apology and subsequent quiet admission(2) of official impropriety is the first time the Japanese authorities have acknowledged the corruption exposed in 2008 by Greenpeace’s Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, also known as the Tokyo Two.

Read more here: Greenpeace Urges Re-Opening of Whale Meat Embezzlement Investigation Following Japanese Government Apology.

Related Story: Greenpeace Blocks Ship with Endangered Fin Whale Meat Going to Japan

Photo Credit: dryoptera

Zachary Shahan (1960 Posts)

I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on your favorite social network, go to: zacharyshahan.com