Dear TAG Friends:
This weekend, as I try to take a step back for family, I'm drawn back in. I will go back to Taiji.
What do you get when activists get almost banned from Japan? They go back! I'll be meeting Scott and Tarah, two of the most dangerous pirates this side of the date line.
And Brian Barnes' work for SJD looks like it's in a nice groove. The initial tests he did on the iphone TAG/donor supplied went well. This may help support an even higher level of awareness next season.
It has become apparent that helping bring Japanese into core leadership positions is the only way we will bring awareness and change to the dolphin issue. Much of my work here in Japan is connecting Japanese to people as deeply as they can handle.
My appeal to you: if you are ready to get more involved, there are two Japanese people who have been to Taiji and need a mentor and financial supporter to bring them back again and again. If you would like to support one of these people, please let me know. This may be the chance you have been looking for to live vicariously through the eyes of young Japanese activists as they explore what can be done for dolphins. If this can is you, please contact me immediately. There is no limit to the amount of support these two women need.
I'll just be down for a short time. I have to pick up a car that was part of the TAG visit program and also ask the Taiji locals how they feel about the new dvds they received in their mailboxes.
And the fateful stars align even further...
There's the Japanese nationalists. Not just the local Shingu right wing, not just the Osaka right wing, but also the Tokyo right wing infamous for the vocal movie distribution protests are apparently coming to Taiji around March 17th to protest the pirates, others saving dolphins and those Japanese that have been supportive in nearby towns.
Oh, how do you plan for a party for people you don't want to invite but you know are coming anyway? I have a few ideas. They came to town last March also and I saw how they work.
I recommend love and respect for the dolphins and tough love and earned respect for the humans who still think that baby dolphins are a food group.
For the dolphins and for us, thank you for caring!
Steven Thompson
TAG Co-Founder
