The Tokyo Two trial has just come to end in Japan today with the prosecutor asking the judge to sentence defendants Junichi and Toru to 18 months in jail. This would be the longest jail term for any Greenpeace activist in the organisation's 40 year history.

As you may know, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki - better known as the Tokyo Two - are on trial for intercepting a box of whale meat as part of an investigation into an embezzlement ring within Japan's taxpayer-funded 'research' whaling programme.

The Japanese government subsidises the loss-making whaling programme to the tune of US$5 million a year, making the embezzlement of whale meat exposed by Junichi and Toru a significant crime. But instead of the criminals behind the embezzlement facing justice, it's the Toyko Two who find themselves in the dock.

A fin whale from the air © CC Sabine's Sunbird

If you’ve been able to dig your way out of mountains of (Nestle-free, naturally) Easter chocolate you may just have noticed this rather fine piece of direct action in Rotterdam. Our activists intercepted a shipment of whale meat – endangered fin whale meat, to be precise – en route from Iceland to Japan.

This shipment is 'technically not illegal', because Iceland and Japan have taken out reservations to the international agreement banning the trade in this species. A bit like having an opt-out clause on which laws you don’t recognise or which taxes you don’t agree with paying, really. (It’s the same sort of loophole that lets Japan kill whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.)

Tension is rising as round two of the Tokyo Two trial starts today in Aomori, Japan, where Greenpeace activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki are on trial in Japan for their role in exposing major corruption in the government funded whaling industry. This week they get to give evidence for the first time, and the whistleblower who alerted them to the embezlement scandal will also take the stand. Watch the video above for an update on the story so far...

The trial of Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, the brave anti-whaling activists who exposed corruption within the Japanese whaling industry in 2008, finally begins today in the whaling city of Aomori. 

There's little doubt that this is a politically motivated prosecution designed to silence the Toyko Two, as they've become better known, and to crush all opposition against whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

When two of our activists were detained after exposing major corruption in the Japanese whaling industry - we knew the Japanese authorities breached internationally guaranteed human rights. Now, as these two activists prepare to take the stand and have their day, or more in court, the violation of their human rights has been confirmed by a UN working group.

As regular readers will know, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, better known as the Tokyo Two, are on trial for intercepting a box of whale meat as part of an investigation into an embezzlement ring within Japan's taxpayer-funded 'research' whaling programme.

The Japanese government subsidises the loss-making whaling programme to the tune of US$5 million a year, making the embezzlement of whale meat exposed by Junichi and Toru a significant crime. But instead of the criminals behind the embezzlement facing justice, it's the Toyko Two who find themselves in the dock.

Whaling activist Junuchi Sato of the Tokyo Two descibes his experiences at the hands of the Japanese criminal justice system...

While Japan's criminal justice system may look OK from a distance, once you get close enough to smell and taste it for yourself, it becomes repulsively clear just how curdled and rotten it is.

Read more »

Greenpeace activists got a good reception at the Japanese Consulate in Edinburgh yesterday when they handed in a wishing tree* full of requests for justice for the Tokyo Two.

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Frances puts her corned beef to one side for a moment Frances volunteers for our biodiversity campaigns and is next up in the blog relay, a whistle-stop tour of Greenpeace staff here in the UK. Click here to catch up on the other entries.

People sometimes ask me why I volunteer for Greenpeace. Well, let's see what I do and why.

As a volunteer on the forests and oceans campaigns, my job involves doing investigative research work. The work is pretty varied, and is a combination of doing desk research and getting out and about in the big wide world.

For example, as part of our Amazon work, I've been visiting various supermarkets, looking at whether we can link the beef products on their shelves back to companies who we know are involved in destroying the rainforests. Today, cattle farms occupy nearly 80 per cent of all deforested land in the Brazilian Amazon. Many of the beef products from these farms are sold on the world market. The Amazon doesn't belong on a supermarket shelf labelled as corned beef!

Hannah hard at work colouring in our Tokyo Two manga-style artwork outside the Japanese embassy last week

A big thank you is due to everyone who sent messages of support on behalf of the Tokyo Two last week. We presented two 'wishing trees' (complete with hundreds of 'wish ribbons' bearing your requests that they are fairly treated) to staff at the Japanese embassy, and over 2,200 of you emailed the Japanese ambassador.