The New Taiji Games 2015-2016

Find all the hidden cameras and win a prize!

The Pre-Opening discussion is done. The Taiji Dolphin Hunting season opens tomorrow, in about 8 hours.

All who have planned to be in Taiji are here, all checked in and ready to go. The film makers, the activists including all the groups and all the independents, the reporters, the police, the hunters, the managers, the politicians. THE WORLD IS WATCHING.

And while we watch, they watch.

Pre-Season research has identified a new aspect to the Dolphin Activism in Taiji. There is now something to do while we wait for the Blue-Cove, Red-Cove verdict.

Introducing the new game for all Dolphin activists who are actually in Taiji. The name of the game is: WHERE'S THE CAMERAS?

It looks like the police and town officials have actually taken a page out of our guide, The Cove Film Play Book: How to Be a Dolphin Activist, and installed rock cameras or others at up to $549usd a piece.

Can you find the new hidden cameras? The police appear to have installed wireless cameras and built a whole room at the back of the Police Cove Office to monitor the usual places: The Point, The Hill, The Union Office, The Parking Areas, The Super Market, and of course The Boats.

While it may have cost a bundle to get together and install and of course to keep up to date with full battery power, they will probably save on their payroll unless this game begins in earnest. Then they will have to monitor the gamers. They may have inadvertently started a whole new game for the hundreds of activists coming to play, just like "Where's Waldo?"

It's going to take imagination and creativity to play. You'll have to imagine you are a Japanese Taiji Police Officer who is set on trapping Dolphin Activists doing bad deeds. Do not take this lightly. It is no easy task to slide down the rabbit hole of Japanese Dolphin Activist Law-enforcement. First you have to accept that right or wrong, you will enforce a law that legitimizes the murder of some of the most intelligent, beautiful beings on the planet. Then, you just do your job. Just think: where might those foreigners go where they are not supposed to go and where won't they look for a camera?

If you find all 14 cameras, you win the prize, the right to gloat that the Taiji Police are following you personally and have your photo pinned to their wall.

Who will find them first?
It could be you.

Just get a ticket to Osaka, and take the train straight to Taiji. Remember to please hide your Sea Shepherd gear if you are not yet prepared for the game at the professional level, "The Deportation Game".

Here is a hidden camera website. Please shop here so that you can practice at home before you come.
Buy your own!

Please post photos of cameras hidden in the Taiji hills or town and include your method of detection. These now un-hidden cameras will then become a tourist draw to line up and pose in front of. The person who finds the camera has the right to name the site. There is really no limit to what can be done once a camera is actually found.

Where else in the world can gamers go to pit their wits against actual police carrying guns in a high stress international-conflict location and have the game itself funded by the police themselves! 

Furthermore, the risks are real or somewhat real because the police are such pussy cats here and not known to be prone to violence. Yet won't the police be motivated to arrest you or threaten arrest for posing in front of the camera? Maybe...maybe not, but this is about as real as gaming can get.

Caveat: the rules have not been fully accepted by all parties. Whether the police know of the myriad ways, including phone apps to find a hidden camera, as evidenced by a quick Google search, has yet to be seen.

For the Dolphins and for Us,
Steven Thompson
In Japan, part of an awesome team, supporting independent activists to Taiji
Taiji Dolphin Action Group


The game, "Where's The Cameras", is brought to you by Wakayama Dolphin Governor Yoshinobu NISAKA. The word is that no one is quite sure why he supports the killing so strongly or why the Japanese Government offers so many killing permits to him, but he sure does give otherwise ne'er-do-well activists something creative to do with their time.

New Taiji Dolphin Strategy: Radical Volunteers Needed

Radical axis

Watching this 90 minute film will change how you think about activism.

Hunger 2008 

by Steven Thompson, TDAG 
January 15, 2013

Are you sick of Red Cove Days? An alternate approach surfaces.

Are you ready?

The dolphin killing mafia is certainly not ready for this.

Watching this 90 minute film will change how you think about activism.

There is new discussion about people coming to Taiji...NOT with any organized group. This time people are coming to Taiji for the purpose of getting arrested and then choosing a radical course of action.

It has never been easier to get arrested in Taiji. So far I count six dolphin activists who have spent more than several weeks in jail for the cause of dolphin freedom in Japan. Personally, I have been detained after I was assaulted by the hunters. Yes, I lost my freedom because I was assaulted. But this was just for a few hours and with ringing in my ears. More than a dozen Sea Shepherd volunteers have also been detained for up to a day.

Alex Cornelissen and Allison Lance Watson were first to go to jail in Japan in 2003 (22 Days). Erwin Vermeulen next in 2012 (64 Days). Nils Greskewitz (18 days) , and Michael Q. Todd (54 Days) followed by the end of the year.

There is certain to be another person in the sunless Taiji (Shingu) jail. We hope they watch this movie.

If this is someone you know, send them this link to Hunger, an award winning movie of a successful strategy against a more powerful opponent.

Doing a 30-day fast would garner massive media attention. There are people who have done this. It is of course, not as dramatic as Bobby Sands...you don't need to give your life...just give more than any have done before.

We are looking for the one in a million volunteer/s. All expenses paid.

Think about this...watch the movie...If you are ready...we will discuss timing...you would not be expected to pay for this yourself. This will be organized off of public pages so that the volunteer/s get into the country...there is also the mater of getting arrested.  The jail in Shingu has no sunlight and involves solitary confinement without reading materials. I know this is torture for many of us.

Film on youtube.


A big THANK YOU to the volunteers in Taiji today guarding the Cove and monitoring the hunt. Without groups like Sea Shepherd, Save Japan Dolphins, and individual dolphin activists all over the world, we simply wouldn't know.

Erwin Vermeulen: Not only legally free

Scott West (L) shakes hands with Erwin Vermeulen

By Steven Thompson
March 6, 2012

Erwin Vermeulen won his case in court two weeks ago on February 22, 2012. Yet one question remained: would the prosecutor exercise her right to appeal? She had two weeks to do so...she waited the full two weeks to announce.

The Wakayama prosecutor's office confirms that Erwin is not only legally free, he is also morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably and reliably FREE.

Thank you Erwin for your Dolphin Disobedience. Enjoy your time in America. You deserve it!

Dolphin lovers dance!
Pirates take the chance!
There is still so far to advance.

First, Erwin's lawyers will decide how to advance the case against his accuser for forcing Erwin to be in jail for 64 days based on a lie. This will be news that will be ongoing.

Second, there are still six Cove Guardian volunteers in Taiji getting up every morning facing a large police presence. This may be the year that dolphin lovers occupy year round! But this is far from certain. Please help make it happen. Please donate and earmark for Taiji.

Sea Shepherd Campaign Coordinator, Melissa Sehgal, reports from Taiji today that all killing boat activities are still being monitored everyday. All captive dolphins are also monitored in every location, especially the sick dolphin in the harbor pen, Harbie, being tube fed every day. I hope she is given better medical attention and then freed with all the other dolphins locked up there.

Finally, are you looking to add your effort to the cause? Watch the Cove and contact those responsible for killing the dolphins. Go to Taiji or support someone who can. Thank you all for caring.
TO DO LIST

Judgment Day for Erwin Vermeulen

Innocent or guilty, we'll see you in Taiji.

By Steven Thompson

It's Judgment Day for Erwin Vermeulen tomorrow.

On Wednesday, February 22nd, the verdict will be announced in Wakayama District Court in the case of Kitagawa vs Vermeulen. Court will be called to order at 11:00am.

The judge will decide whether Erwin Vermeulen is guilty or innocent of pushing Mr. Kitagawa.

I will be there along with many supporters from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Save Japan Dolphins.. A large media presence is expected. I have heard that Private Space may attend. Certainly the Taiji police and the hunters' union will be represented. It is expected to be a lively day for a jig together.

Being with this group of Eco-pirates is always somewhat of a surreal experience for me. Irreverent humor prevails. Tomorrow has been named as Erwin's Hanging Day. Just like in the movies, it would be without precedent for a pirate worth his salt to miss his own hanging day. I expect Erwin will be there smiling, no matter what. My feeling is that he is looking forward to it all.

The best that could happen is for Erwin to be found innocent."Muzai" is the word in Japanese. It is my mantra for the next 18 hours.

What will an innocent verdict mean?

It will mean that the Dolphin Slave Resort owner, their young cry-wolf dolphin trainer Kitagawa, the Japanese police at three levels (Taiji, Shingu, Wakayama), and Ms. I-want-Erwin-in-jail-one-more-day Prosecutor, clearly, obviously, and very publicly screwed the pooch.

While obvious to us that Erwin is innocent, it is not obvious to the Japanese public. An innocent verdict will speak volumes to the Japanese that dolphin lovers are good people.

For dolphin lovers, who already know they are good, Taiji has become a renewed focus because of Erwin's imprisonment. The attempted oppression of Erwin has effectively spread awareness of the dolphin hunt. I cannot thank the authorities enough for this service.

What would a guilty verdict mean?

I don't think that a guilty verdict will change a thing for us. Since Ms. Prosecutor has limited her request from prison time to a small fine, there is now no expectation that Erwin will not get to go home shortly.  Either way, Erwin flies home with friends to his family.

The worst case, a guilty verdict, in my estimation, will just encourage legions of Eco-activists to come to Taiji to see the place where the alleged assault took place. If the alleged assault really happened, wouldn't you like to walk in Erwin's footsteps?  Maybe we can find the evidence of guilt that has so far eluded Japan's finest.

Erwin Vermeulen: Japanese Political Show Trial?

Erwin Vermeulen: Japanese Political Show Trial?
 By Steven Thompson





Today, in closing arguments, lawyers for the defense railed against the prosecution case citing example after example of how the prosecution failed to prove any allegation of assault against the dolphin trainer. No photo, video or witnesses provide evidence to link Erwin Vermeulen to any violence of any kind. 

 1. A key defense witness testified that Erwin had his hands full with a long-lens camera in his left hand and a walkie-talkie in his right. So, pushing of any sort could not have been done with his hands as the prosecutor claimed.
2. No DNA evidence was found on the alleged victim's jacket. 

3. No bruise or scratch was apparent on the victim's body.
In closing arguments, the lawyer for the prosecution started to back-pedal. No longer asking for a prison sentence, they humbly ask that Erwin be fined 100,000 yen (approx. 1,276usd). It is starting to look like the Taiji police officer in charge of the arrest may be thinking about a career change.

The verdict will be announced on February 22nd. Please join me: let's envision justice for Erwin and the dolphins. Set Erwin free to enjoy his last few days in Japan before his visa runs out. Let the dolphin hunters and trainers know that we will not go away.
However, don't hold your breath for Erwin being found innocent...a country that can imprison an obviously innocent person for 72 days, could come up with anything.

Your ideas needed to end the Taiji hunt

We support dolphins.

Our Facebook group, TDAG, supports dolphins.

Many organizations support dolphins.

Organizations approach the dolphin hunt issues differently. The reality is that there will always be vast differences of opinion in how to end the hunt.

TDAG members have worked with individuals from at least nine organizations: SSCS, SJD, Eyes On Taiji, WDCS, EIA, Whaleman, Atlantic Blue, Blue Voice, and ELSA. Please get to know these groups. They accept non-profit donations. Get involved more deeply in their work. The leaders and paid to interact with you. They have excellent resources and vast experience. If you have ideas that seem to match their various approaches, we would be happy to introduce you to their representatives.

There are at least four other groups where committed individuals work to end the hunt: Campaign Whale, Ocean Care, AWI, and IDA. We have had positive interaction with them on a more limited basis. Please get to know them too.

They all agree that they want the hunt to end, and yet follow different, sometimes dramatically different, paths.

A goal of TDAG is to give all paths a voice and encourage the development of more by encourage readers to follow their hearts. We are still searching for the way to end the hunt.

Steven Thompson
TDAG Co-Founder

Thanks to Steve Cody, for sparking this post.