Japan's most famous tuna buyer says he turned Somali pirates into fishermen

jeffybefffy519

Somali pirates WERE fishermen before being pirates... They turned to piracy to combat other countries fishing their waters.

samlinnfer

AI slop article from ai slop site.

mikeatlas

> Both things can be true. Ughhh I hear this like 5x a day now. It's the new emdashery.

Gensui

The reason President Kimura helped the Somali pirates is that he himself is a “man who has overcome adversity”—having lost his father at a young age and struggled financially, and having hit rock bottom during the collapse of the economic bubble. He came to deeply empathize with them after learning that the pirates were not vicious criminals, but “former fishermen who, due to civil war and poverty, had no choice but to risk their lives as pirates just to survive.” Driven by his innate “profound kindness that won’t let him ignore people in distress” and his “overwhelming drive to take action—even donning a bulletproof vest himself to enter dangerous areas”—he engaged in direct dialogue with the pirate leaders and provided them with tuna fishing techniques and boats as a means of survival. It was not just his own self-interest, but a down-to-earth love for humanity—a desire for “everyone involved to be happy”—and an incredibly positive outlook that led him to believe “the problem can be solved by changing the system,” even in situations where anyone else would have given up. These qualities gave rise to this miraculous initiative.

Gensui

Based on my research, he did not actually go to Somalia, but rather to the neighboring Republic of Djibouti. At the time, Somalia was extremely dangerous and under strict travel restrictions. Therefore, he established a base in Djibouti, which was relatively safe and hosted a Japan Self-Defense Forces base. He then invited former pirates and fishermen from the surrounding areas to that location. In reality, his approach was to provide indirect support through fishing equipment and technical training.

mattm

> Kimura has told the story in Japanese interviews, and the details come from those. It'd be nice if the article linked to the sources. There's very little substance in this article.

rsalus

Besides being obviously AI editorialized, the idea that a few fishing boats were the reason Somali piracy stopped and not because of an international coalition of navies is... quite a stretch.

volcomy

Fighting piracy with a supply chain is the most sushi-chef approach imaginable.