(from "Kujira to Inbou" (Whales and Plots), by Yoshito Umezaki, 1986)

The first incident happened on the evening of June 30th, 1979, the last day of the annual meeting in London. It was when catch quotas for each area were about to be discussed. About 30 young people who were mobilized by anti-whaling groups broke into the conference room of Mount Royal Hotel, and sat-in in the center of the room where tables were arranged in the shape of a "U".

They then read aloud statements of accusation directed at whaling nations such as Japan, USSR, and gave a testimonial to the French delegation that France had done the best among the anti-whaling nations. When they left the room after the 'ceremony', they splashed red dye contained in bottles at the Japanese delegation. Many members of the Japanese delegation remember the following words shouted at them.

"Murderer!"
"Barbarian!"
"It's the blood of whales you killed!"

Yuuzou Yamato, a commentator, participated in this meeting as a member of "Hogei-Mondai Kondankai" (gathering to discuss the whaling issue) formed by some intelligentsia.

After returning to Japan, he harshly condemned this barbarity at every opportunity in his speeches.

"Why did anti-whaling mobs splash dye only on the Japanese delegation? When they left the room, they splashed dye on the Japanese delegation who represented only one colored whaling nation, without glancing at the seats of white whaling nations such as the USSR, Norway, Iceland, Spain. Obviously this was an expression of racism. It was for the same reason that the USA used atomic bombs only on Japan and had no intention of using them on white enemies in Europe."
- Yuuzou Yamato

The 1979 meeting of the IWC was the opportunity that the anti-whaling movement took to escalate into being extremely anti-Japanese.

Before the first day of the meeting to be held on July 9th, about five thousand people had an anti-whaling rally in Trafalgar Square on Sunday, the 8th. We were advised by the police, who had discovered that the rally would not be only anti-whaling, but that Japanese people had better not go near Trafalgar Square. I got in a taxi, and covered the rally by driving around the Square. The flags of several organizations, such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, were fluttering. Most people were in their twenties. I saw Peter Scott, a charismatic person in favor of environmental protection in UK, in the center of the crowd.

A large white papier-mache whale was brought out. A harpoon with the national flags of Japan and the USSR was stuck into its back, and there was red blood painted on the white body. Then a life-sized doll, dressed in something like a seaman's uniform and wearing glasses, was hanged. The Japanese national flag was on its chest. The doll hanged by rope was swaying under a gallows, being held up by some young people. After seeing this scene, I left Trafalgar Square. One member of the Japanese delegation, who went by the Square by taxi soon after, witnessed a harpoon piercing the doll from chest to back.

The IWC meeting started the next day, Monday, July 9th, at Cafe Royal which was facing Regent Street near Piccadilly Circus - a famous place in London. The meeting was to start at 10 A.M., but anti-whaling organizations started to shout in chorus repeatedly "Save the whale!" and "Moratorium!", since around 9 A.M. I could see placards of "JAP the whaler killer!", "JAP the scum of society". Every time members of the Japanese delegation arrived at the entrance, the voices became louder.

At 9:55, when almost all delegations finished entering the conference site, a tall young guy with long hair walked out from the anti-whaling crowd and moved to Regent Street, holding a Japanese flag by his right arm. He then lit the flag with a lighter in his left hand. When the flag was almost burnt out, a policeman walked up to him, took away the flagstaff, and calmly stamped out the fire. This year's meeting was surrounded by an extraordinary anti-Japanese atmosphere from the beginning.

Ever since those two years, every year in London when the IWC meeting was close to starting, incidents happened in which cars made in Japan parked on roads were damaged. It is not known who did this. However, this harassment did not last long. After Japanese car dealers agreed to donate to environmental protection organizations, the harassment stopped suddenly.

It is almost a crime, and as I mentioned earlier, surely there are people who get money as anti-whaling movements prosper.

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