Taiji, Japan and Broome, Australia: Sister City Status Suspended Due to Commercial Dolphin Hunting

In late August, The Japan Times covered the suspended sister city relationship between the towns of Taiji and Broome. Ties between Taiji, Japan and Broome, Western Australia date back at least 100 years to the pearling industry in Broome. Broome was the biggest pearling center in the world in 1910; many Japanese worked there. Diving was the only option then for finding pearls. Divers brought oysters to the surface to search for pearls inside the shells.

A parasite may enter the oyster shell, and the oyster protects itself by creating layers of nacre around the parasites. The parasite changes and grows and ultimately, a pearl is formed inside the oyster. Today, however, pearls like salmon and trout, are farmed. A small, rounded bit of shell is inserted into an oyster. The oyster is returned to the water, and the pearl slowly forms in the oyster shell. Pearl formation requires a few years.

Unlike silver, gold and diamonds, pearls need nothing to be finished. They emerge from their shells and are ready for rings and necklaces. Before pearl farming, pearls came from the ocean. Divers dove down to the bottom of the ocean searching for oysters. Most of the divers in the pearling industry in Broome were from Taiji. Between the bends and the shark attacks, diving was a dangerous business. Some sources state that the job killed approximately half of the divers.

The Japanese cemetery in Broome has the graves of 919 Japanese divers who died trying to take riches from the sea. Others were lost at sea and their bodies never found. The Japanese divers from Taiji were imprisoned in prisoner of war camps when World War II started. Ironically, the war probably saved many of the divers from sharks and the bends, keeping them alive until the war ended.

Taiji, a whaling town for hundreds of years, was the birthplace of Japanese traditional whaling techniques. These techniques were developed in the 17th century when Wada Chubei introduced group hunting and a new handheld harpoon. After, a whaling net technique was also introduced. Group hunting lasted for several hundred years until an accident claimed over a hundred lives in 1878. Group hunting then collapsed. Taiji suspended commercial whaling in 1988.

Today in Taiji, commercial dolphin hunting is a major business. Some of the dolphins are sold to aquariums around the world. Other dolphins are slaughtered and sold to eat. Considerable dolphin is apparently eaten in Taiji and the media has covered the high mercury content of the dolphins and the Taiji residents who eat them. Taiji has been subjected to both domestic and international criticism and pressure to stop commercial dolphin hunting. Unfortunately, no acceptable alternative employment has yet been suggested for Taiji residents who depend on commercial dolphin hunting for their income.

The town of Broome has recently been subject to both domestic and international criticism and pressure concerning the town's sister city relationship with Taiji. In late August this year, the Broome local council suspended their sister city relationship with Taiji until commercial dolphin hunting stops. Broome has also requested both Australia and Japan to assist Taiji in developing alternatives. Broome hopes that the people of Taiji can find other work and the sister city relationship can be resumed.