The increasing media flurry over the upcoming World Cup must be frustrating to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, which had been preparing for a year to make sure that this past week would be their moment in the spotlight. As the de facto hosts of the 54th annual plenary session of the International Whaling Commission that was held in Shimonoseki, the ministry and its adjunct, the Institute of Cetacean Research, were counting on the hearts and minds of the nation to be with them.

While the goal of the ministry was to persuade the IWC to lift at least part of the worldwide ban on commercial whaling, the main thrust of its activities was to persuade the Japanese people that what they are doing is in the nation's interest.

Of course, it's generally accepted, though rarely mentioned, that the only interests the ministry and the ICR are promoting are their own. As with most bureaucratic entities in Japan, the ICR is mainly concerned with justifying and maintaining its own existence. Without a whaling industry to regulate and research, the institute's officials would be counting anchovy populations.