Japan Court Rejects Demand to Revoke Dolphin Hunting Licenses

October 12, 2019

Wakayama- Wakayama District Court rejected on Friday a demand by an animal rights activist and a local resident for Wakayama Prefecture to revoke licenses for dolphin hunters in the town of Taiji, denying their qualifications as plaintiffs.

The individual interests of such people as local residents and animal rights activists are not within the scope of protection under the western Japan prefecture's rules governing dolphin hunting licenses, Presiding Judge Yasushi Itami said.

In the lawsuit, filed against the prefecture, Ren Yabuki, 46-year-old head of Life Investigation Agency, a nongovernmental organization based in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, and a male resident of Taiji, argued that Taiji's drive hunting causes the marine mammal unnecessary pain in violation of the animal welfare law.Jiji Press