(Japan) Most Taiji residents rest easy, refuse to change diet

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Monday, May 10, 2010

 

Most Taiji residents rest easy, refuse to change diet

 

By MINORU MATSUTANI

Staff writer

 

TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. — Residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, appeared

relieved Sunday after health specialists found no symptoms of mercury poisoning

in their bodies, even though the hair samples of some residents contained high

levels of methyl mercury.

 

And the people in the town with a centuries-old tradition of eating whale and

dolphin said they won't change their diet.

 

" I am relieved because experts said (methyl mercury) has no effects on our

bodies. Everyone seemed relieved, " fish shop owner Shinichi Shiozaki, 60, said

after a town hall meeting with residents, town officials and the National

Institute for Minamata Disease, which conducted the tests.

 

" I will keep eating " whale and dolphin, he said.

 

The town of Taiji, which has a population of about 3,500, took hair samples from

1,137 residents who went in for regular health checkups and agreed to submit

them for testing last summer and this winter amid criticism from animal right

activists that the town is poisoning local residents by allowing the consumption

of dolphin and whale meat.

 

The average amount of methyl mercury found in Taiji hair is 11.0 parts per

million for men and 6.63 ppm for women, compared with 2.47 for men and 1.64 for

women on average in 14 other places in Japan, according to the institute.

 

Those with extremely high levels underwent further tests to check their vision

and other senses and their ability to exercise, but no one was found to have

symptoms typically observed in mercury poisoning patients, it said.

 

Of the 1,137 residents, 643 had not eaten whales or dolphins within a month

before their hair was tested.

 

Eight people interviewed in Taiji by The Japan Times eat dolphin and whale up to

10 times a month between September and March and occasionally during the other

half of the year when hunting is out of season. In most cases, they eat it raw.

 

Katsutoshi Mihara the 72-year-old chairman of the Taiji Municipal Assembly and

head of a local group opposed to the International Whaling Commission's ban on

whaling, went to Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, for more thorough checks and

came away with a clean bill of health.

 

" I will not change my lifestyle. Look at me, this old man is very healthy, "

Mihara told journalists after attending the town hall meeting.

 

A 42-year-old woman whose family runs a seafood store in Taiji said she didn't

have her hair tested but heard that some who did got warnings in the form of red

or yellow cards indicating high methyl mercury levels, and went to get a more

thorough checkup.

 

However, some of those rated high for mercury don't even eat dolphin or whale as

they don't like the taste. " I don't know what advice they get, " she said.

 

The woman's shop sells tuna, mackerel and other fish, and dolphin and whale

meat. The dolphin meat is exclusively from Taiji, while the whale meat can come

from Taiji, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, or the Antarctic Ocean.

 

The woman said she hasn't notice a drop in whale and dolphin sales since the

hair test.

 

However, she is critical of the documentary " The Cove " because it targets Taiji

even though there are other places where people hunt dolphins.

 

Her 20-year-old daughter likes to eat dolphin and whale meat sashimi with soy

sauce and ginger and enjoys it five or six times a month. She didn't even know

the town was checking residents' hair.

 

" I won't be scared even if some people have a high mercury level. The town has

many old people. If mercury is bad for your health, why do they live so long? "

 

A man in his 50s said eating dolphin and whale has long been a part of Taiji,

with people both young and old consuming the marine mammals.

 

" Some foreigners criticize us, but whale and dolphin (to us) are like beef and

chicken for them. It's just our culture, " he said.

 

The Japan Times

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