   , in terms of active hunting of these large mammals, is estimated by the japan whaling association to have begun around the 12th century. however, japanese whaling on an industrial scale began around the 1890s when japan began to participate in the modern whaling industry, at that time an industry in which many countries participated. japanese whaling activities have historically extended far outside japanese territorial waters. during the 20th century, japan was heavily involved in commercial whaling. this continued until the international whaling commission (iwc) moratorium on commercial whaling went into effect in 1986. japan continued to hunt whales using the scientific research provision in the agreement, and japanese whaling is currently conducted by the institute of cetacean research. this is allowed under iwc rules, although most iwc members oppose it. the whale meat from these scientific whale hunts is sold in shops and restaurants. the international court of justice (icj) ruled that the japanese whaling program in the southern ocean, begun in 2005 and called "jarpa ii", was not for scientific purposes and ordered the cessation of jarpa ii in march 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-31/ijc-japan-whaling-southern-ocean-scientific-research/5357416 |title=japan ordered to immediately stop whaling in antarctic as international court of justice rules program was not carried out for scientific purposes |work= |publisher=abc news |location=australia |date=march 31, 2014 |deadurl=no |archiveda
Whaling_in_Japan