0.5 percent of the world*s whale oil; in 1937-38 Japan caught 13.8 
percent of the total world*s production and produced 11.6 percent of 
the oil (Table 33). 
Japanese whaling is carried on in two areas: Antarctic waters 
and the Japanese home and nearby colonial waters. The Antarctic opera¬ 
tions are the more productive, accounting in 1937-38 for more than 5,500 
whales and more than 64,000 metric tons of oil as compared with less than 
2,000 whales and 5,500 tons of oil from the operations in home and 
colonial waters. (Table 34). 
Antarctic Operations . Japan*s entry into 
Antarctic whaling dates from 1934-35 when a ship purchased in Norway 
with a crew including Norwegians was licensed to operate by the Japanese 
government. By the 1938-39 season six ships entirely manned by Japanese 
were operating. All of these were floating factories averaging 16,000 - 
17,000 tons. Working from these mother ships were powerful catcher 
boat8 averaging about 350 tons equipped with harpoon guns. In 1938-39 
the catcher boats numbered 49, an average of eight for each of the 
mother ships. 
Three companies were engaged in the Japanese Antarctic whaling 
in 1938-39; the Nippon Suisan K. K. with three ships, the Taiyo Hogei 
K. K. with two, and the Kyokuyo Hogei K. K. with one (Table 35). 
- 109 - 
16^031' P 134 bu 
