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FORMER GUNS N' ROSES DRUMMER MATT SORUM JOINS PROTEST AGAINST DOLPHIN HUNT IN JAPAN : IT'S 'LIKE A BAD NIGHTMARE'
The musician traveled to Taiji in Central Japan for the cause of saving the dolphin against the village’s annual hunt.
Dozens gathered in protest to protect the dolphins from the Japanese village’s annual hunt, which the natives call a tradition.
AP
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2013, 4:43 PM
Former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum was in a remote Japanese fishing village Monday to protest against its annual dolphin hunt.
Sorum, who now leads his own group, is the latest celebrity to join the increasingly global campaign to stop the dolphin kill in Taiji, a quaint fishing village in central Japan made famous by the Academy Award-winning 2009 film about the hunt called "The Cove."
The movie depicts how dolphins are herded into a cove and speared by fishermen for their meat. The fishermen say the hunt is part of their village's tradition and call Western critics who eat other kinds of meat hypocritical.
The film features Ric O'Barry, who trained dolphins for the 1960s "Flipper" TV series and has devoted the latter part of his life to protecting dolphins and keeping them in nature.
Sorum arrived in Taiji on Sept. 1, the day the annual dolphin hunt begins, with O'Barry and dozens of Japanese and Western conservationists.
"Like a bad nightmare, I'm watching it almost like a twilight zone, surreal, looking into my eyes in complete disbelief — what's going on in front of me," Sorum said, speaking by phone from Taiji after witnessing the hunt.
In this Sept. 1 photo released by Dolphin Project, Ric O’Barry (r.) holds a banner reading: 'Save Dolphins in Japan' as he joins Japanese activist Satoshi Komiyama with an anti-dolphin hunt message in Taiji, central Japan.
Dolphin and whale meat is considered an eccentric delicacy in Japan, though not all Japanese eat it and not all Japanese know about the hunts. Some nationalist groups have used the controversy to highlight their own message, accusing O'Barry and other Westerners of interfering with Japanese culture.
Over the weekend, nationalists in Taiji used loudspeakers to broadcast their message about the right to kill dolphins, and held a barbecue, presumably of whale or dolphin meat, at the cove, where Sorum and others opposing the hunt were watching.
"Our work here is about supporting the Japanese activists," O'Barry said. "You only hear about the blood and the guts, and it's being created by less than 50 men. It's not even the whole town of Taiji, and certainly not the country of Japan."
Sorum, who has also played with Velvet Revolver, said he hoped to organize a rock concert in Tokyo around the theme of "celebrating the dolphin," bringing together Japanese and Western musicians, including his new band, Kings of Chaos.
"I'm going to bring a bunch of heavyweights, big rock stars," said Sorum. "The main thing is to get the Japanese kids."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/matt-sorum-guns-n-roses-drummer-protests-dolphin-hunt-japan-article-1.1443720#ixzz2dn8uxo1q
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/matt-sorum-guns-n-roses-drummer-protests-dolphin-hunt-japan-article-1.1443720
savejapandolphins.org
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MATT SORUM JOINS FIGHT TO SAVE DOLPHINS IN JAPAN
By Yuri Kageyama
ARTICLESNEWS
By Associated Press | September 02, 2013 10:26 AM EDT
Former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum was in a remote Japanese fishing village Monday to protest against its annual dolphin hunt.
Sorum, who now leads his own group, is the latest celebrity to join the increasingly global campaign to stop the dolphin kill in Taiji, a quaint fishing village in central Japan made famous by the Academy Award-winning 2009 film about the hunt called "The Cove."
The movie depicts how dolphins are herded into a cove and speared by fishermen for their meat. The fishermen say the hunt is part of their village's tradition and call Western critics who eat other kinds of meat hypocritical.
The film features Ric O'Barry, who trained dolphins for the 1960s "Flipper" TV series and has devoted the latter part of his life to protecting dolphins and keeping them in nature.
Sorum arrived in Taiji on Sept. 1, the day the annual dolphin hunt begins, with O'Barry and dozens of Japanese and Western conservationists.
"Like a bad nightmare, I'm watching it almost like a twilight zone, surreal, looking into my eyes in complete disbelief — what's going on in front of me," Sorum said, speaking by phone from Taiji after witnessing the hunt.
Dolphin and whale meat is considered an eccentric delicacy in Japan, though not all Japanese eat it and not all Japanese know about the hunts. Some nationalist groups have used the controversy to highlight their own message, accusing O'Barry and other Westerners of interfering with Japanese culture.
Over the weekend, nationalists in Taiji used loudspeakers to broadcast their message about the right to kill dolphins, and held a barbecue, presumably of whale or dolphin meat, at the cove, where Sorum and others opposing the hunt were watching.
"Our work here is about supporting the Japanese activists," O'Barry said. "You only hear about the blood and the guts, and it's being created by less than 50 men. It's not even the whole town of Taiji, and certainly not the country of Japan."
Sorum, who has also played with Velvet Revolver, said he hoped to organize a rock concert in Tokyo around the theme of "celebrating the dolphin," bringing together Japanese and Western musicians, including his new band, Kings of Chaos.
"I'm going to bring a bunch of heavyweights, big rock stars," said Sorum. "The main thing is to get the Japanese kids."
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