There is little evidence that ordinary Japanese hunger for more whale, though. A recent poll by the independent MORI organisation, commissioned by environment groups, found 55per cent of Japanese had no view either way on commercial whaling. Only 11per cent backed it. Around 60per cent hadn't eaten whale meat since childhood, if at all. Just 1per cent ate it more than once a month.
Whale turns up much more commonly in images of art and popular culture than on the table.
In provincial Kochi City on the island of Kyushu, smiling whales with flawless teeth advertise petrol and homewares. At nearby Ogata, whale watching does reasonable local business. On a warm May morning, four busloads of schoolchildren from Osaka and Kobe scrambled on to a dozen small fishing boats and headed out to look for Bryde's whales. For years local fishermen collected data for the Fisheries Ministry. Then last month they learned Bryde's whales would be hunted in waters around Japan.