さあ！諸君！捕鯨問題だ！

Given the country's appetite for whale, it's not surprising that the new mercury studies have divided the tight-knit community of Taiji. "If whaling disappears, our town disappears," says Katsutoshi Mihara, the affable town-council chief. He casts doubt on the accuracy of the mercury tests, which were commissioned by Ryono and another Taiji assemblyman after rumors circulated that locally caught pilot-whale meat might be tainted. "Look at me," says Mihara, 69. "I'm made of whale, head to toe, and I'm fine."

Ryono used to feel the same way until he learned about the sky-high mercury levels. "I thought eating this meat was fine because it is a Japanese tradition," he says. "But protecting our culture is not worth endangering our children's health." Junichiro Yamashita, the other member of the town council who opposes serving dolphin in school lunches, believes a silent majority supports his cause but is reluctant to speak publicly. "At the last town meeting, there was a lot of pressure from fishermen not to publicize the mercury results," he says. Some are afraid of losing their jobs if Taiji takes dolphin off the menu. But Yamashita is pushing an idea that, at least for the long term, may be a more palatable solution: "Instead of relying on whaling, we could shift the town's economy to whale-watching."

With reporting by With Reporting by Toko Sekiguchi / Taiji

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1668448,00.html