ABSTRACT
Three forms of whaling existed in Japan when the whaling moratorium went into effect in 1987: Pelagic whaling, LTCW (large type coastal whaling) and STCW (small type coastal whaling). Of these three types, pelagic whaling is the most recent phenomenon in Japan, but the other two types have been carried out there for many centuries-even milleniaduring which time there have been many changes in technology, in species caught, in hunting grounds, and in the location of the whaling communities themselves. It is the purpose of this chapter to outline the historical processes leading up to the three modern forms of whaling which existed when the moratorium was enforced. In so doing, we will describe the development of each of these three forms, in order to illuminate the historical continuities in Japanese whaling. At the same time, we will describe the social organization of pre-modern whaling in order to provide background material for an understanding of the continuities which, we will argue in the next chapter, exist in the ways whaling activities were carried out until 1987.
