Letters (from Asia)

[Guest guest]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:

 

 

 

Letters

 

 

Japan beyond Tokyo

 

Your mention in the July/August 2009 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE

that a man who was arrested in Japan in 2006 for dumping butchered

dogs' heads was of South Korean descent does not surprise me. Nor am

I surprised that dog-eating persists in Japan. But it is not the

Japanese who eat dog meat; it is Korean residents. The Japanese,

except during World War II when dogs almost became extinct because

they were eaten by the starving population, have never had the

custom of eating dogs.

Kansai (West Japan) and particularly Osaka is home to a large

Korean population, but since most have adopted Japanese names, it is

hard for outsiders to recognize them. They live in Korean areas of

Osaka city, and dog meat is on the menu of restaurants that serve

these communities. Perhaps because there is not enough dog meat to

buy in Korea, most of it is imported from China.

Kansai is home to many other businesses that exploit animals

for food or trade. One of the first signs that greets visitors on

their way from Osaka International airport into the city advertises a

whale meat restaurant. Kansai also has the most burakumin, the

Japanese " untouchables, " who live in enclaves and perform jobs such

as butchery, tanning, leather work, undertaking, and plumbing.

which they have done for centuries.

Then there are the yakuza (gangsters). Some Koreans and some

burakumin are gangsters, but not all gangsters come from these

origins. Gangsters formerly kept to the traditional vice trades of

money laundering, prostitution, gun-running, and extortion, but

in recent years they have moved into dog breeding and operating pet

shops. The police and other authorities are reluctant to inspect or

monitor these businesses.

Another business flourishing in Kansai, perhaps in the hands

of Koreans and/or burakumin, is the shamisen trade. The shamisen is

a traditional Japanese musical instrument made from cat skin pulled

over a drum. The skin must be replaced yearly to keep it supple and

keep the shamisen in tune. People are often shocked to find out that

their pet moggie has disappeared after she was let out at night. We

are told that the cats are skinned alive, but due to the clandestine

nature of this trade, it is impossible to get firm evidence of this.

Japan is basically two countries: Tokyo and the rest. Move

down to Kansai and then into the nether regions of Shikoku, home to

tosa dog fighting, cockfighting, and Japanese-style bullfighting,

all labelled " cultural traditions, " and beyond that to Kyushu, and

you will discover a very different side of Japan.

--Elizabeth Oliver

Animal Refuge Kansai

595 Noma Ohara, Nose-Cho,

Toyono-Gun, Osaka-Fu

563-0131 Japan;

Phone: 81-727-37-0712

Fax: 81-727-37-1645

<lizwizdogz1

<www.arkbark.net>

 

 

 

Animal rights history

 

" The 1st Church of Animal Rights tried to launch the movement

in 1921 " and your review of The Human Side of Animals by Royal Dixon,

published in 1918, both in the October 2009 edition of ANIMAL

PEOPLE, were great reminders of the wonderful and wild people behind

all efforts to change the social conditions of their times.

--James Myers

Animal Aid

Udaipur, India

<alice321_2000

 

 

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

[ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing

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