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Japan hopes to extend limited ivory imports


Ivory tusks stored in a warehouse in Japan

From Gary Strieker
CNN

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japan is seeking permission to import more ivory, despite an international ban on the trade meant to protect endangered animals. Whether the country succeeds will affect not only elephants in Africa but a dwindling number of ivory craftsmen in Japan as well.

For centuries elephants supplied the ivory that inspired artistic genius. But with many elephant populations now endangered, those who carve ivory also face extinction.

If the worldwide ban on ivory trade continues, "there's no future for the Japanese ivory business," said Minoru Sakurai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Ivory Arts and Crafts Associations.

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Their membership is now just several hundred people. In the 1950s there were almost ten times as many in the industry.

Part of the International Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora, the international ivory trade ban was imposed in 1989 after illegal poaching had wiped out half of Africa's elephants in less than ten years.

Because of the ban, Japanese ivory craftsmen have now almost exhausted their stock of elephant tusks. Two years ago, Japanese buyers were given special permission to import about 50 tons of ivory from three southern African countries, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

One of the buyers is Tuneo Motohashi, who makes ivory name seals popular in Japan. He said his new ivory stash should keep him in business for a few more years.

Motohashi followed his father into the craft, but his own son decided to work for a computer company because the ivory is running out.

"Maybe my son will change from computers to the ivory business if we can arrange a sustainable supply," he said.


Japanese ivory craftsman

There is still wide international support for a total ban on the ivory trade, with no exceptions, even for Japan. According to critics, special sales to the Japanese have triggered more elephant killings. Poachers know that any legal trade can disguise the laundering of illegal ivory, still found in many Asian markets.

But the Japanese said that such illegal activity cannot happen in their country. Thousands of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers across Japan are officially registered as ivory product dealers.

Those who support ivory sales in Japan say the government has a system in place to keep illegal ivory off the market. Dealers must show their tusk registration cards and detailed records.

Government officials said they are doing everything possible to keep the ivory business legal.

"I think it's functioning. Our system is to follow the transactions in a close way. And I think this is as much as we can possibly do. I think this system blocks any illegal ivory from coming into the Japanese market," said Kojiro Mori, director of the wildlife protection division of the Environment Agency.

But others point out that the system uses voluntary controls and depends on the honesty of dealers.

"The government cannot distinguish between legal ivory and illegal ivory, so illegal trade cannot be prevented," said Masayuki Sakamoto, secretary-general of the Japan Wildlife Conservation Society, a leading opponent of Japan's ivory trade policy.

Japan will try again next year to win approval to buy more ivory. Southern African nations want to sell because they have growing elephant populations and warehouses full of ivory tusks.

Some conservationists think ivory sales to Japan will encourage protection of elephants. But others warn of the danger of reopening the ivory trade, saying the business in Japan and elsewhere should be allowed to die.