\nIn a letter sent to Governor Koike<\/a> last week, Mayor de Blasio wrote: \u201cSustainability is a key theme of next year\u2019s games as reflected in the guiding principle: \u2018Be better together \u2013 for the planet and the people.\u2019\u2026.With millions of people traveling to Tokyo, many from countries with strict ivory regulations, tourists and participants may unknowingly engage in the illegal ivory trade by bringing home souvenirs that violate their local laws, causing undue distress and tarnishing their Olympic experience.\u201d
\nNew York City and Tokyo have shared close economic and cultural ties over the last few decades. New York state is one of nine U.S. states that prohibit the sale of ivory products, and the Big Apple has hosted two high-profile destructions of seized ivory — in Times Square in 2015 and in Central Park in 2017. In contrast, after China banned ivory in 2018, Japan became the world\u2019s largest legal ivory market.
\nIris Ho, senior specialist of wildlife programs and policy for Humane Society International, said, \u201cThe 2020 Summer Games present a critical opportunity for Japan to show itself as a responsible and reputable leader on the world stage. Without an ivory trade ban in place, the Tokyo Games are a transnational ivory trafficking disaster waiting to happen, offering millions of tourists easy access to illegal ivory souvenirs. We can \u2018be better together – for the planet and the people\u2019 when we choose elephants over the ivory trade.\u201d
\nBrian Shapiro, New York senior state director for the Humane Society of the United States applauds this effort to seek great protection for elephants from the illegal ivory trade.
\n
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\nMasayuki Sakamoto, executive director of Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund, said, \u201cIn Japan, 80% of ivory is used for the mass production of hanko, or personal signature seals. Ivory is not a traditional material for hanko. There is no doubt that Tokyo residents will give a ringing endorsement to ban ivory sales in order to protect live elephants.\u201d
\nAmy Zets Croke, senior policy analyst at the Environmental Investigation Agency, said, \u201cJapan\u2019s ivory trade stimulates demand and undercuts domestic ivory bans in the United States, China and elsewhere. To demonstrate real commitment to protecting Africa\u2019s elephants, Japan must close its domestic ivory market before hosting millions of athletes and spectators from around the world during the 2020 Tokyo Games.\u201d
\nIn addition to the letter by Mayor de Blasio, on May 7, 37 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter<\/a> to Ambassador Shinsuke J. Sugiyama asking the government of Japan to join the growing effort to close domestic ivory markets worldwide in order to conserve dwindling elephant populations. The letter was co-led by Reps. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., and Peter King, R-N.Y., and co-signers include chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.
\nFacts:
\n\u2022 Japan has more than 16,000 registered ivory retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers.
\n\u2022 From 2011 to 2016 more than two tons of ivory from Japan was confiscated by Chinese authorities.
\n\u2022 Japan\u2019s ivory market facilitates transnational ivory trafficking and undermines the enforcement efforts of neighboring China.
\n\u2022 The African Elephant Coalition, representing 32 African nations including elephant range states, is appealing to Japan to close its domestic ivory market.
\n\u2022 Many countries and jurisdictions have announced or implemented measures prohibiting or restricting domestic ivory trade, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Luxemburg, Belgium, China, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
May 17, 2019 WASHINGTON\u2014As athletes and organizers prepare for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to support efforts to end the ivory trade in Japan, the largest ivory market in the world. Mayor de Blasio is among a growing group of world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":444,"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions\/444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jtef.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}