Blood in the Bay: The Controversial Legacy of Dolphin Hunting in Japan
september 28th 2025
(see pictures below)
The vintage View-Master set "Fuji - Hakone and Izu National Park" captures the beauty and diversity of central Japan in the 1960s: snow-capped Mount Fuji rising majestically over the landscape and tranquil lakes reflecting the iconic peak. But among the 21 stereo images, two stand out starkly from the otherwise idyllic scenes. They depict a brutal dolphin hunt - motorboats driving a panicked pod into a narrow bay, and the bloody aftermath as the water turns crimson.
Such images are shocking today, yet they document a practice that has a long and complex history in Japan. Small-scale coastal whaling and dolphin drives have been recorded for centuries, especially in fishing towns along the Pacific coast. One of the most well-known modern sites is Taiji, a small town in Wakayama Prefecture that remains a center of dolphin hunting to this day. The traditional "drive hunt" method - herding dolphins into shallow water using boats and loud noises - is still used. Once trapped, some animals are slaughtered for meat, while others are sold alive to aquariums and marine parks around the world.
The scale of the hunt, however, is far smaller than it once was. Modern Japan consumes very little dolphin meat: surveys suggest most Japanese people have never eaten it, and many are unaware that dolphin hunting still occurs. The meat, which can contain high levels of mercury and other pollutants, is not a common part of the national diet and is mostly sold in specialty markets or consumed locally. Some critics argue that the live trade - where a single trained dolphin can fetch tens of thousands of dollars - is now a far greater economic incentive than the meat itself.
International attention has grown since the early 2000s, particularly after the 2009 documentary The Cove exposed the hunts in Taiji to a global audience. Conservation groups regularly protest outside the town, and foreign media coverage has sparked debate within Japan about the ethics of killing dolphins. While many Japanese defend the practice as a cultural tradition and part of the country's fishing heritage, attitudes - especially among younger generations - are shifting. Urban Japanese tend to view dolphins more as intelligent, charismatic animals than as food, and the controversy has made the hunts a sensitive political issue.
Despite global condemnation, the Japanese government continues to permit regulated dolphin hunts, citing cultural rights and sustainable use of marine resources. Exports of dolphin meat are minimal, but live dolphins captured in Japanese waters are sometimes sold abroad.
Seen in this context, the unsettling images on View-Master reel B2663 are more than just snapshots of a bygone era. They capture a moment when dolphin hunting was routine, uncontroversial, and largely unseen by the outside world - a stark contrast to today's globalized conversation about animal welfare, conservation, and cultural tradition.
They also remind us of the complexity of Japan's coastal heritage. Just as Mount Fuji - the sacred volcano dominating the landscape - symbolizes both natural beauty and enduring tradition, the images of the dolphin hunt reflect a practice deeply rooted in history, yet increasingly at odds with contemporary values. The juxtaposition of these scenes on a single View-Master set shows Japan in all its contradictions: serene and violent, ancient and modern, beautiful and disturbing.
PS : I have a B266 for sale on eBay at the moment.
previous<---->next
