The Japanese state it as "Research" and thus it makes it legal. The fact is that many scientists have come forward to repute the claim that Japans research program is scientific and does not meet scientific standards. If this is right then yes they are killing whales illegally. So I shall make this point by Richard Gale, an Australian antarctic marine scientist. Richard gale has provided non-lethal methods of research for understanding whale populations. He has made the point that the only thing that cannot be gained through non-lethal methods is age. But that age is not necessary to understand what the Japanese research program is aiming for. Thus its not research and due to this it is illegal. Also a scientific panel a few years ago found that out of the thousands of research papers only four of them met scientific standards. Which means that for each paper a few thousands whales died... anyone with who has passed 6th grade science class knows... that’s a huge scientific fail.  

 Lastly to end this, Sea Shepherd has recorded a Yushin entering established Australian coastal waters. Because the Japanese fleet is not allowed within these waters. Their actions are classed as illegal and criminal. The title they get on this page is well deserved.