Greenpeace

The age-old saying “Never judge a man before you walk a mile in his shoes” is something that all of us can apply to everyday situations. In this case it’s two men, the Tokyo Two, and I could barely even begin to fill their shoes. Before starting my internship here at Greenpeace, I never imagined myself putting my own neck on the line to save the whales and now that I’ve actually started my internship, I feel the exact same way. But, sometimes it’s not putting yourself in danger that turns out to have the most consequences.

Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, known as the “Tokyo Two,” are two Greenpeace activists that are currently detained for exposing corruption involving the Japanese government-sponsored whaling industry. The two intercepted a box of the most expensive cuts of whale meat marked as “cardboard” that was in the process of being shipped to a private address. They then turned it over to the Public Prosecutor in Tokyo as evidence of the extensive corruption of the whaling operation. The Prosecutor began an investigation but halted it the same day that the two were arrested and charged with theft and trespassing. With these charges they face up to ten years in prison.

Since the arrest in 2008, a quarter million people have signed a petition protesting the injustice facing the Tokyo Two. My first thought was that the whole signing a petition idea was more up my alley rather than putting myself out there, but the thing is, aren’t their actions that what anyone would and should do? If an average citizen came across a mislabeled box that contained embezzled whale meat, wouldn’t that seem a bit (pardon the pun) fishy? And after finding it, the smart thing to do would be to turn it over to the authorities, right? Well according to the Japanese government, wrong! But, people should not have to fear persecution from authorities due to peacefully exposing a scandal. It’s not as if the men violently held the whalers hostage and demanded government exposure of the scandal if they ever wanted to see their workers again. Junichi and Toru cooperated with officials and they were simply carrying out an environmental investigation to expose criminal embezzlement within the tax-funded whaling industry for the good of the country.

People view these men as great heroes, and rightly so, but they were just doing what any law-abiding citizen should not be afraid to do. They spoke out against injustice and no person should be intimidated by the government to follow in their footsteps. Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki did what I thought I would be afraid to do, but I realize now, that their actions were not drastic or crazy, they were simple and effective. The Tokyo Two’s action of exposing the corruption is something everyone should have the bravery to do; what’s right. Anyone can be hero if they stick to what they believe in.

The two were interrogated for twenty six days without a lawyer. Click here to tell the Japanese Embassy that you stand beside the Tokyo Two as co-defendants.