Masato Hasegawa is the fourth generation of his family to be a fisherman on Japan’s northern oceans, but now his cruises focus on admiring sea life instead of catching it. His company provides whale-watching trips, a growing business across Japan that has helped put Rausu, a remote town on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, on the global eco-tourism map. He also is in the vanguard of efforts to shift the struggling town’s economy from fishing to tourism - a change that mirrors his own life.

Former fisherman finds profit in whale-watching. (2019, July 10). Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A14.