Gold vs. whales

This section reveals, for the first time, a connection between gold being discovered in Ballarat, Australia and Perry's Expedition, nicknamed ‘The Coming of the Black Ships’, in Japan because of the colour of Perry’s vessels. The California Gold Rush occurred in 1849 during a dynamic historical period. Plotting historic detail from 1850 to 1853 reveals a plausible explanation of the next historic event to play out in Japan. Perry acknowledges in his journal that Californian Gold and the Australian Gold Rush in 1851 made these two places significant in the world of wealth creation and, hence, the demand for whale-based products. However, the Australian and, in particular, Ballarat rush of that year was significant for a different reason.

Blainey (1987, first published 1966) describes the situation of whale ship crews abandoning ship during resupply in Australia. In a later text (Blainey, 1969), he details the events of 185land the predicament facing the owners of whaling ships visiting Australian Ports as their crews made the more lucrative and, to them, less risky decision to speculate on gold rather than the life threatening prospect of hunting whales with dwindling supply in increasingly dangerous whaling grounds. Many crews absconded at this time, including a ship’s captain. Observers commented on ‘a forest of masts’ in Port Phillip, the Melbourne port close to the Ballarat Gold Fields (Patterson, 2013).

The whaling company owners needed to get their fleets out of the South Pacific. The sense of determination by the US to ‘open’ Japan had never been greater. Perry refers to the whaling industry power brokers in the introduction to his journal when he mentions ‘the unanimous and urgent appeals of our commercial men’ to prosecute a successful opening of Japan (cited in Hawks, 1856). This was front page news and the dominant print media of the time was excited.

In Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion of 12 February 1853 (a newspaper published in Boston), a strong Christian message resonates in the words of an author (unknown) from an article about the Perry Expedition and its important ‘intercourse’ with Japan:

The whole force under the command of Commodore M.C. Perry, will form a very powerful fleet, able to cope with any resistance that may be offered... we know Yankee grit and Yankee spirit too well to doubt the result.

A listed description followed with the words:

an effective force of 4000 men, and above 300 guns, mostly heavy ordinance. The steamers are each to mount a couple of Paixham shell-guns, of the largest calibre, and placed on revolving trucks, so as to sweep the horizon.

On reflection, these final words are chilling and consistent with the notion of the ‘Whale War'. The treaty of Kanagawa followed in 1854 and although the US was focused on gaining access and support for its whaling activities, Japan became a willing participant in a process which lead to industrial, economic and social change after an arrested beginning to Industrial revolution already underway in other parts of the world. This was a key moment in a relationship based on economic issues and alliances which the US has since dominated (Morikawa, 2009).

From 1854, Japan is open to the US, agreement with Russia follows (Hawks, 1856) and the whale hunt continues at the same unsustainable rate that decimated stocks the Atlantic in the preceding century. Consequently, the Japanese traditional coastal whaling industry collapsed; the declining number of whales in the 40 years between 1835 and 1875 brought to an end over 270 years of sustainable industrial whaling. The closing scene for Taiji is a risky and calamitous final hunt in 1878. A desperate decision is made by a group run by Taiji Kakuemon, against the better judgement of the other Taiji group of Wada Kinemon (Hashiura, 1969) to chase a female Northern Right Whale (Semi Kujira) and its baby. A typhoon hits the fleet and destroys all but a few boats and kills over 100 men with only a handful of survivors making it to the safety, picked up by a passing boat. Another boat landed at Atawa (Sakurai, 2011) and 1 remaining boat with many dead and just 11

Whaling heritage and tourism development 215 still alive hit the rocks on Kozashima. Eight survivors made it to the beach at Kozashima (author’s research, Kozashima - Temple records). This event is known as Seminagare (the accident) and its tragedy resonates to this day.