A scene from the documentary film “Whale Restaurant”
12:59 JST, September 30, 2024
New York (Jiji Press) – A documentary about the whale-food culture in Japan is being shown in the United States.
Keiko Yagi, who directed the film ‘Whale Restaurant’, says she struggled to find cinemas to show the film because many in the country are against whaling.
However, she was able to get feedback from those who watched it. Some expressed a desire to try whale food, Yagi said.
The film focuses on daily life at a whale restaurant in Tokyo and includes scenes of a whale being dismantled at a whaling company in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. It also includes interviews with Japanese and foreign experts.
“I hope to convey the charms of whale dishes. I want people to know that the number of whales has increased too much due to reduced whaling, scientifically speaking,” says Yagi, 57.
The film was shown in Los Angeles in mid-September. The film can be seen in New York from September 21 to Thursday.
It won the award for best Sustainable Development Goals at the Japanese Film Festival in Los Angeles this year.
The documentary, which was originally released in Japan last September, has been shown in France, India and Greece.
Yagi made his debut as a film director in 2015 with ‘Behind ‘the Cove’, which contradicts the critical portrayal of the dolphin catch in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, Western Japan, in the documentary ‘The Cove’.
