Chapter 3: Interaction between Whales and People in Chiba

Chapter 3 will show you how people in Chiba have historically made use of whales.

Whale bones have been unearthed from prehistoric Jomon sites in the prefecture. Specimens, such as charred dolphin bones from the 8,000-year-old Okinoshima site and dolphin bones found alongside large harpoons at the Natagiri Shrine Cave in Tateyama City, indicate dolphin hunting in the Jomon period. Whale bones with dish-shaped indentations, whale bones used as earthenware bases, whale mandibles turned into waist ornaments, and whale-teeth pendants are other examples that show whales have been not only consumed as food but also exploited to make tools and jewelry. During and after the Yayoi period (300 BCE - 250 CE), whale bones continued to be used to make tools such as lures for fishing.

In the Middle Ages, Nichiren, a Buddhist priest in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), wrote a letter in which suggested that whales were transported from Awa, where the current Chiba is, to Kamakura to extract oil. The scrubbed skulls and ribs of pilot whales with traces of carvings on them have been found in a well dating from the 13th century in the Nagasuka-jorisei Ruins, Tateyama City. This discovery testifies to the use of whales in this period as implied by Nichiren’s letter.

A copy of a letter has been passed down in the Daigo family in Kyonan-Town, which was written by Tadayoshi Satomi, head of the Awa clan in the early 17th century during the Edo period (1603-1867), to a minor priest of Ise Jingu Shrine, stating that whale skins were to be offered as a donation to the grand shrine. The Daigos had been coastal lords of the Katsuyama area under the name of “Daigo Shimbei” for generations. In the Edo period, whalers started to organize local coastal whaling organizations called “kujira-gumi” and the first “Daigo Shimbei” became the first head of the “Daigo-gumi”, one of the “kujira-gumi”, which specialized in hunting Baird’s beaked whales off the Boso Peninsula. The whaling method then was hand-harpooning but in the late 19th century, the 8th “Daigo Shimbei” and other two whalers from Katsuyama paid a visit to Ezo, in the northern part of Japan, and surveyed an American whaling ship.

The beginning of a new era, the Meiji Period (1868-1912), brought new whaling technology which had been developed in the West to Japan and the traditional “Daigo-gumi” shifted to become a company. In 1887, the 9th Daigo Shimbei and Akekiyo Sekizawa, an engineer from the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce experimented with American-style whaling. After Sekizawa died, his brother, Yomio Kaburagi, continued his legacy and established a whaling company, the Boso Enyo Gyogyo K.K. (the Boso Distant Water Fisheries Co., Ltd.), which subsequently changed its name to the Tokai Gyogyo K.K. (the Tokai Fisheries Co., Ltd.) in 1906. Tokai Gyogyo started Norwegian-style whaling off Choshi in 1908. Towards the end of the Meiji Period, the increasing number of newly established whaling companies in Chiba Prefecture resulted in a decline in the catch. Both public and private sectors decided to regulate their whaling activities, which led to many smaller companies being absorbed into bigger corporations such as the Toyo Hogei K.K. (the Toyo Whaling Co., Ltd.). Tokai Gyogyo stayed in business till 1969 after moving its base to Otohama, Shirahama-Town in Minamiboso City in 1913.

In 1949, during the Showa period, the Gaibo Hogei K.K. (the Gaibo Whaling Co., Ltd.) was established in Wada-Town, Minamiboso City. It is the only whaling company still in operation in the prefecture, specializing in hunting Baird’s beaked whales off the Boso Peninsula. In the past, the whale meat would be sold to local residents and processors, and both bones and blood, after being ground into bone/blood meal, would be sold as fertilizer for loquat trees and roses. Whale meat can be purchased even today as fresh meat or for processing into products such as the dried meat called “kujira no tare”.

The way people interact with whales is changing gradually with the times. Today, whales are not only regarded as food or product ingredients but appreciated as living animals. Whale-watching boat-tours are available all year round off the coast of Choshi and aquariums such as Kamogawa Sea World offer opportunities for people to see live whales up close.

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