Japan’s Shark Fin Capital – Kesennuma City
Last year, the sharks fishing industry in Japan killed 31,000 tons of sharks, half of these sharks will be sold to China’s Shanghai, Hong Kong etc. Hong Kong photographer Alex Hofford sneaked into the fish market to take these shocking pictures.
Fishing boats parking by the shore of Japan’s Kesennuma City
Picture of the fisherman through the net, these nets are installed on the fishing boats to prevent sea birds from snatching the fishes caught
A fishing boat uploading the fish that they caught, it will be sent to the market
These sharks’s hearts were gorged out and their fins cut, they were lined up waiting to be auctioned off
These sharks had their fins removed and piled together waiting for buyers
Workers cutting off parts of the sharks
A lot of fish buyers
Shark fin instant noodle
Sharks’ hearts. In the fishing industry of Japan, every part of the fish’s body is being used.
The city’s Shark Museum
Plastic sample of the Shark’s Fin Ramen sold near the Shark Museum, around USD27 (RM82)
At dawn 5am, 75 tons of dead sharks were gathered in a pile of 20 in this sharks market in Kesennuma City
6 days a week, workers skillfully cut away sharks’ fins
Just in two days’ time in July last year, 119 tons of Prionaceglaucaof, 10 tons of Lamnaditropis and 3 tons of Isurusoxyrinchus were killed and processed here (the 3 names are the technical names of 3 species of sharks)
Kesennuma City kills 90% of the sharks of the whole Japan’s market
Tourists “admiring” the killing scene…the seaport of blood
Half of the shark fins will be exported and sold in China cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong..where sharkfin soup is a great delicacy..
Shark’s dorsel fin sliced off…
Sharks’ hearts for sale at 250 Yen each
So much blood and death…how can anyone get used to working in these conditions..how can anyone work in these conditions full stop..
Picturesque Kesennuma City before the quake and tsunami…….behind this calm placid picture is a industry of murdering sharks to the point of extinction…for a delicacy we don’t need…
Kesennuma City during the recent earthquake….
Kesennuma City during the recent earthquake
Click on video below to watch the Shark market in Kesennuma City (viewer discretion advised)
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/sharkfin.mp4
If you can eat meat, then you can watch this video. Do not cringe because when you eat meat, you don’t cringe…watch this video and see how the meat got onto your plate. Denial does not help karma or your spiritual awakening or your ethical awakening…Denial doesn’t help in the development of compassion.
In Tibetan Buddhism as well as in Chinese Mahayana, it is believed Nine Great Kingly Nagas reside in the Oceans. They have a huge wealthy kingdom that cannot perceived without the spiritual eye..Many high lamas speak of them..From there, these nagas rule the millions of other nagas throughout the planet’s water areas.. There are special wealth vases, rituals, tormas, etc made to offer to these nagas as they can be very helpful. If angered, it is said they will create skin problems, cancer, disasters associated with water, and disturbances. Lusang and Lutor are some common pujas for these beings.
Buddha Shakyamuni recognized them and some nagas would attend his sermons in human form. Nagarjuna entrusted many of his sacred writings to these Naga beings for protection. He also obtained sacred writings kept by these supernatural beings and taught them to disciples. If we have a naga vase, we should not never offer meat and especially fishes/animals from the sea. It is said to offend them temendously. They very much are disturbed by the smell of burning flesh as when we are cooking. Hurting frogs, snakes, water animals are said to disturb them greatly also..
Seeing Kesennuma City now just reminded me of some teachings I have shared above received from my teachers. I am not correlating the happenings in Japan with the Nagas, but it reminds me of the stories of the wrath of the naga kings..but if the nagas are disturbed, they would be disturbed by fishing and pollution of their environments.
I wish so much that fishing the ocean to depletion would stop. The demand for it is mostly greed. Never eat meat. Never harm the oceans, forests, waters and our planet that we depend on to survive. If we love our offsprings, we must preserve the planet for them. Animals have every right to live just as us. Just because they cannot defend themselves when we butcher and murder them does not mean there is no karma involved. When you go to the restaurant or buy nicely packaged meat, remember clearly how the animal was murdered, tortured, skinned alive, bludgeoned, suffocated to get onto your dinner plate. Please do not eat animals. Whether you are Buddhist or not, but as a human with a conscience do not eat animals. No excuses, no justifications, no explanations..just stop now please…debates are unnecesary..just stop now..
Tsem Rinpoche
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Have the people not killed and eaten enough of sharks? They just do not believe in karma, they just believe in themselves. With all those disasters, it’s very clear that karma is catching up on them. Killing these sharks is so unnecessary when we have so many other food choices.
Although I love many things about Japan such as anime and their technologies but seeing this just it’s just disgusting. Thousands of shark bodies are stored in the shark market. I didn’t expect to see so many sharks piled up there. Please stop eating meat, I know that you stop eating meat you can only save like 100 animals but what if the whole world stop eating meat? If that happens then no more animals would be killed. Isn’t that great?
I hate seeing shark fining. It makes me sick. This is one of my worse type of animal slaughter. I mean, 31000 tons of shark meat! That is a lot of sharks gone. Sharks are amazing creatures, they do not mean to harm any human being. They do not deserve to be treated in this way.
I feel sorry for the sharks, i really do. I will never eat shark meat in my life. Thank you for sharing.
I know a lot of people think that sharks deserved to die because they killed thousands of people but think about it they killed thousands of us and we killed millions of them. Is this fair to them? And Kesennuma City kills 90% of the sharks of the whole Japan’s market. I think when Japan got earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in 2012 is because of their
peoples killing millions of fishes and all of their kharma gathered and created all of these problems for Japan. Stop killing and eating animals so your bad kharma will lessen. Thank you for reading
Thank Buddha , I am a vegetarian. I cannot bear to see these pictures of mass killings of sharks or any other animals. Animals should be loved and not killed. People put sufferings on others in order to satisfy their own food desire. This has to be stop.
[…] angry about shark fin soup, angry that fins were being dried on the shores of Chiba, angry that a whole industry from being made of it up in Kesennuma (a port town destroyed by the tsunami but is since making its […]
Sure shark fins taste awesome but its kind of sad to see them slaughtered like that. I feed bad for eating shark meat now….
There has to be ways to change people minds in the eating habits, by teaching thems how to replace the eat meating habit, with sustantial replacements and its benefits, so meat eating reduce. Here in the west people eat meat like crazy as they are
Have you heard the cries of these animals in pain when they are killed? Sometimes they sound like little babies crying in pain. It is too gruesome to even think of it let alone killing it.
How horrible to cause harm to others for our own craving and satisfaction. Please feel pain for these animals.
Kesennuma city kills 90% of the sharks of the whole of Japan’s market, mudering them to the point of extinction for a delicacy…we dont need. It is said that whatever action, virtuous or non-virtuous, may have effects lasting for many years. Since every living being even an insect, cherishes its own life more than anything else, there is no excuse for taking the life of another, be it an insect, fish or human being. Whatever non-virtues are commited resulting in unhappiness, everyone is bound to experience the results of the causes they produced. Before the deadly devastating quake, Kesennuma city, was shown in pictures as that of a calm, placid and distinctive charming city, which was suddenly turned into a plce of ruins, with motionless dead bodies all lying around, similar to the bloodied dead sharks killled by them except many were burnt beyond recognition. Please be altruistic, be compassionate and be VEGETARIAN to contemplate on these golden words of wisdom, said by Lord Buddha-“The eating of Meat extinguishes the seed of Great Compassion”.
“Meat = Suffering.” Exactly. I can’t think of any way to express this more directly or succinctly. When we see meat, I think it should directly and immediately equate with suffering, in our own perception, because isn’t that truly what is on display before us when we see butchered flesh?
Everytime I watch these scenes of butchery and suffering I am reminded that this is actually a fundamental and gross abuse of these beings’ existence. They have every right to live. Fish were not made for this.
I will share this on Facebook and Twitter.
wow – how terrible & sad
seeing so many fishes (sharks) having been killed, it seems
extraordinary that there is even one left in the sea (+ so much
blood) You know for some reason, seeing these pictures reminded me
of St Francis of Assisi, who talked to the wolf, and who really
loved animals – and it made me wonder what would he do.
I find these things so scary. I am so lucky I do not eat meat anymore. There is no need at all to debate over such things as these. Meat = Suffering. It is universal.
I feel sorry for the sharks. They had the karma to be like that. I feel sorry for the slaughterers as they will have the karma to be like that. I also feel sorry for those who eat the sharks as they are also contributing to the slaughter and they will also be like the sharks.
I just wish that shark slaughter would be made illegal as there are not that many sharks out there in the ocean.