After more than two and half years of pressure by Greenpeace and the famous “Tokyo Two” trials, officials with the Japanese Fishing Agency publicly admitted last week that they received whale meat as “gifts” from private companies contracted by the government to slaughter whales.

One of the officials, who according to press reports was one of several who received gifts of whale meat with an estimated value of $180 to $840, even went so far as to bow in apology to the assembled media.

Junichi Sato, one of the defendants of the “Tokyo Two” trial and now Executive and Program Director of Greenpeace Japan said of the victory that, “Greenpeace welcomes the Fisheries Agency of Japan’s decision to discipline its officials who had been receiving free whale meat from the whaling operating company. However, FAJ only punished 5 officials while the corruption in the whaling program is much bigger and institutionalized. Greenpeace demands a third-party investigation on the whale meat scandal to reveal the true face of the whaling program.”

“…the recognition of the corruption in the whaling program by FAJ itself will strike the credibility of the program significantly,” Sato added.

This is a great victory for Greenpeace and people like you who support the work we’re doing to pressure the Japanese government to end its annual slaughter of whales in the Southern Ocean.

We can make change happen.

If we continue to call out the Japanese government and demand that world leaders speak out against Japan’s cruel whale slaughter, we can end this brutal practice once and for all.

But while we‘re celebrating right now, the Japanese whaling fleet is making its way down to the Southern Ocean with plans to kill nearly 1000 whales.

That’s why here in the United States we’ll be launching a campaign very early in January to urge President Obama to step up pressure on the Japanese government. We know the American people are behind us (83% in a recent poll). And the President himself has said that allowing Japan to continue its whaling program is “unacceptable.”

Together, we can convince President Obama to use all available diplomatic tools to stop Japan’s senseless slaughter of thousands of whales.

Please rush Greenpeace your most generous gift today to help us continue to urge President Obama to tell Japan that commercial whaling is unacceptable.

For the whales,

John Hocevar Ocean Campaigns Director

P.S.  Greenpeace cannot save the whales — or continue our campaigns to defend the oceans, stop global warming or save the forests — without your support and the support of people like you. Please make your most generous contribution today on our secure website or call 1-800-722-6995.