[GoNative]

I have no particular love for whales or think they require any special protection above that of any other wild animal but I do think justifications for Japanese whaling are obviously completely and utterly ridiculous. If they can even slightly make a case of it being somewhat traditional then how about retricting their whaling to traditional areas rather than down in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. The industry itself is not exactly profitable and only exists because of government subsidy. There is little domestic demand for whale meat, certainly not enough to justify the current amount of whales that are killed and the scientific study justification is little more than laughable.
Personally I think the whole industry here only continues to exist for political reasons. Mostly I beleive it's just an easy way for the government to appease hard line nationalists around the country that the Japanese will remain strong against the big bad westerners trying to influence Japanese culture.