Memories of Whaling as an Modern Industrial Heritage: Whaling Issue and Cultural Diversity

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25570010
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: Hitotsubashi University (2014-2015); Nagoya City University (2013)
• Principal Investigator: AKAMINE Jun 一橋大学, 大学院社会学研究科, 教授 (90336701)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YAMAGUCHI Mikako 岐阜大学, 地域科学部, 助教 (60507151)
• Research Collaborator: SAKURAI Hayato 太地町歴史資料室, 学芸員
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 商業捕鯨 / 調査捕鯨 / 鯨肉食 / 生活変容 / 高度経済成長

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Although, lots of articles focus on Scientific Whaling in the Southern Ocean by the Japanese Government, whaling in Japan is diverse. For example, a small-type coastal whaling targeting berardius and pilot whales is legally operated. In order to make clear diversities of whaling industry and whaling cultural complex in Japan, the present research focuses on life histories of wide range of whaling industry workers and stakeholders such as small-type coastal whalers, a whale meat seller in Kitakyushu and an owner of whale meat specialty restaurant in Osaka. One of the results indicates that there are clear differences between commercial whaling and scientific whaling in that the latter needs more sophisticated technique in dissection. This is because the research needs the contents of the stomach. Selected six oral histories will be published by a Japanese publishing house in the end of this year (2016).

Free Research Field

食生活誌学