ABSTRACT
The culinary relationship between Japan and whale meat is complex and controversial as the recent press stories indicate. There is an ambivalent attitude toward whaling as a political issue among the Japanese as well as indifference toward whale meat as food. This chapter argues that neoliberal models of tourism continue to hold dominance in tourism theory and practice, and hence the ways in which whales are used and valued within tourism. It suggests a need to examine the continuing consumption of whale meat in tourism and examines the frameworks that might be used to generate discussion. The chapter presents the ways in which the commodification of animals in tourism has fostered the unethical treatment and valuing of these animals through the production and consumption process. It also suggests the “Global Code of Ethics for Tourism” as a mechanism to ensure the provision of social equity for local community tourism as a shift away from commodified and neo-liberalist approaches to tourism.
