Interest in whaling was handed down to Shigeko Misaki at first remove. Her father was minister for agriculture, forestry and fisheries when Shigeru Yoshida was prime minister and Gen. Douglas MacArthur was supreme commander of the Occupation forces. "The International Whaling Commission was the first postwar intergovernmental forum to which Japan was allowed to send its observers. My father signed the documents appointing the Japanese delegates to IWC," she said.
Her interest in whaling became direct when, beginning in 1977, she became official interpreter for the Japanese delegation to the scientific committee of the IWC conference in Canberra. She interpreted at IWC meetings for 17 years, increasingly committing herself to what is known as "the whaling issue." She said, "I witnessed at first hand the hardships faced by Japan through being the focus of accusations by antiwhaling powers." She believes the accusations to be without foundation.
Misaki, now adviser to the Japan Whaling Association, lives independently and confidently. She has spiced her career moves with considerable variety. She was just completing her English literature bachelor of arts degree at Keio University when, in 1957, the old BOAC selected her for its team. "BOAC was first of the foreign airlines to come into Japan," Misaki said. "They took me to the U.K. for training." She became a flight attendant before switching to the airline's public relations services.