"Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy." - Milan Kundera

This week marked the opening of dolphin hunting season in Japan. During the six-month season, thousands of dolphins are corralled into narrow coves and captured for sale to aquariums or amusement parks. Those not captured are killed for meat. But this year, something different happened.

After Taiji's annual dolphin hunt was covertly filmed for a documentary, the little fishing village has suddenly found itself at the uncomfortable center of a media spotlight.

Police and fishermen in Taiji don't allow filming of the hunt, part of the villagers' everyday lives. But a team of activists and filmmakers went undercover to shoot the footage, telling their story in the 2009 documentary, The Cove.

Since its release, the documentary — which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival — has spurred an international outcry. In one case, Taiji's sister city — Broome in Western Australia — suspended its relationship with Taiji for as long as dolphins continue to be killed.

This week, activist and Cove star Ric O'Barry went back to Taiji for opening day of dolphin season. He was accompanied by a group of international journalists.

But this time, he didn't see any dolphins being killed. He didn't even see fishermen on the water.

That day, he blogged, "Today is a good day for dolphins."

NPR | Hunters Pass on Opening Day of Dolphin Season

Our eyes see just a small fraction of the light in the world.

Tokyo Undressed [NSFW]

yum for the tum ^_^

using purell till my hands bleed and swell

When it comes to saving energy, the Japanese have much to teach the United States and other rich countries, whose leaders descend on Japan next month for a Group of Eight summit.

Energy consumption per person here is about half that in the United States, and the growth of greenhouse gas emissions is slower than anywhere in the industrialized world.

There is a hiccup, though, in this world-beating record. It happens inside the Japanese home, where energy use is surging. And nothing embodies the surge quite like the toilet — a plumbing fixture that has been reengineered here as an ultracomfy energy hog. […]

The Japanese are serious about cleanliness. The word for clean — kirei — is also a word for beautiful. People often sweep the street in front of their house. They remove their shoes upon entering a house. They shower before bathing.

In Energy-Stingy Japan, an Extravagant Indulgence: Posh Privies

title: WHY? lyrics

Raindrops falling from seeling

Lullatone Ouichi Orchestra Exhibit