Reply #29: No, I don't.

[kristopher]

The issue isn't the economics of whaling, it is wounded national pride.

I don't see the similarity with Greenpeace unless they were trying to explain the shift in OUR values. It doesn't take much, just the acknowledgment that our feelings are formed in the same manner as are taboos against murder and cannibalism. We should acknowledge that it isn't a rational decision, it is an evolution in morality brought on (IMO) by distance from the reality of starvation. Many Japanese alive today have experienced starvation firsthand. How many generations has it been since the West has had to face such a reality? I believe that difference is at the heart of the different values.

If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend a manga that is shown in every Japanese elementary school: Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies). It deals with two children in Japan trying to survive the war, and it is an excellent insight into the memories that permeate the japanese culture even today.

I think the Japanese will change as a favor to us, but I wouldn't expect a real shift in cultural awareness until another generation reaches maturity.