Japan's commercial whaling industry has seen no obstruction or protests from anti-whaling organizations since operations resumed in July last year, according to the Fisheries Agency.
Prior to commercial whaling's resumption, whaling for scientific research conducted in the Antarctic Ocean had been repeatedly obstructed by foreign anti-whaling organizations, placing the whaling vessels in danger.
The government also withdrew from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ahead of the resumption, drawing international criticism.
Since the resumption, however, there have been no protests through diplomatic channels against commercial whaling.
The agency assumes that this may be because Japan has withdrawn from the Antarctic Ocean near anti-whaling countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, and has instead shifted to whaling sites in areas closer to Japan.
Japanese vessels now no longer operate in the southern hemisphere, including the Antarctic Ocean, and the government has limited whaling sites to areas within Japanese territorial waters and the nation's exclusive economic zones.
The government has also complied with an allowable annual catch quota, which is calculated based on a method adopted by the IWC. The quota includes up to 171 minke whales, 187 Bryde's whales and 25 sei whales.
"This is probably because of Japan's withdrawal from the Antarctic Ocean, which many other countries strongly regard as 'a shared asset of all mankind,'" said a senior official of the agency. "However, we hadn't predicted that protests and criticisms would disappear to this level."
On the other hand, as domestic demand for whale meat has been on the decline, the industry is now tasked with keeping whaling a viable commercial activity.
The IWC decided to suspend commercial whaling in 1982, and the government did so temporarily in 1988.
Instead, Japan began whaling for scientific research to study whales that had been caught mainly in the Antarctic Ocean. As a byproduct of this activity, Japan distributed the whales' meat in the domestic market.
Rifts in opinions between Japan and anti-whaling countries, which have urged for the total ban of all whaling activities, have yet to be resolved.
As a result, the government formally withdrew from the IWC on June 30 last year, and resumed commercial whaling starting the next day, July 1, for the first time in 31 years.
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