Withdraw from IWC & resume commercial whaling
Government Policy
In Effect
December 25, 2018
Summary
On 25 December 2018, Japan’s Cabinet announced Japan’s withdrawal from the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) and the resumption of commercial whaling, with the Chief Cabinet Secretary publishing a formal statement to that effect. On 26 December 2018, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the ICRW depositary of the withdrawal, effective 30 June 2019, and from 1 July 2019 Japan resumed commercial whaling in its territorial sea and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) while simultaneously ceasing the Antarctic and North Pacific research whaling programmes (JARPA II and JARPN II) it had operated since 1987 under the ICRW’s Article VIII “special permit” provisions. The Cabinet statement specified that commercial catch limits would be calculated using IWC methodology and confined to Japan’s own waters, ending Japan’s membership in the international body that had governed its whaling activity. Kyodo Senpaku Co., Ltd. operates as the principal commercial whaling company under the post-withdrawal framework.
Background Context
Japan was a member of the IWC from its founding; it joined the commercial whaling moratorium (adopted 1982, effective 1986/1987) after initially lodging an objection but withdrawing it under diplomatic pressure in 1985. From 1987, Japan conducted large-scale research whaling under ICRW Article VIII in the Antarctic (JARPA, later JARPA II) and North Pacific (JARPN, later JARPN II), taking several hundred whales annually. In 2014, the International Court of Justice ruled in Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan; New Zealand intervening) that Japan’s JARPA II programme did not meet the Article VIII “scientific research” requirements, which prompted programme revision but not cessation. Japan tabled proposals at IWC67 in 2018 to establish a Sustainable Whaling Committee permitting some commercial whaling of abundant stocks; these were rejected by the required three-quarters majority. The Cabinet statement framed withdrawal as a response to the IWC’s failure to reconcile conservation with sustainable use and as a refocusing of whaling activities within Japan’s own maritime zones. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), and Iruka & Kujira Action Network (IKAN) monitored and published analyses of Japan’s whaling policies throughout this period.
System Impact
System Scale Direction
System Expansion
Type
Alters Legal Basis
Significance
High
The Cabinet statement was published on 25 December 2018 and the formal ICRW withdrawal notification was transmitted to the depositary on 26 December 2018, taking effect on 30 June 2019. Commercial whaling in Japan’s territorial sea and EEZ began on 1 July 2019, with the Fisheries Agency setting an initial combined quota of 227 whales (52 minke, 150 Bryde’s, 25 sei) and issuing operating permits to five whaling vessels; the quota for the 2019–2020 season rose to 383 whales (171 minke, 187 Bryde’s, 25 sei). Japan’s Antarctic (JARPA II) and North Pacific high-seas (JARPN II) research whaling programmes terminated as of the withdrawal. Quotas have been adjusted annually since; 294 whales were reported caught in 2023 against a 379-whale combined quota. In 2024, the Fisheries Agency added fin whales to the list of species that can be hunted commercially in coastal and EEZ waters, with the first commercial fin whale meat auction in several decades reported by media outlets. As of 2026, no domestic court ruling or legislative change has halted the post-2019 commercial whaling framework, and Japan remains outside the IWC.
Anticipated Effects
If the domestic commercial whaling framework continues to operate as established, Japan will continue to set annual quotas and issue operating permits for commercial killing of large whale species within its territorial sea and EEZ, without IWC oversight or constraint.
If species scope continues to expand beyond the 2019 initial list, as demonstrated by the 2024 fin whale addition, total commercial whale catches could increase beyond current levels, subject to fleet capacity and market demand.
Whether total large whale catches under the domestic commercial framework will return to or exceed levels taken under the historical Antarctic and North Pacific research programmes is not established in available sources.
Significance Rationale
The development affects Japan’s whaling system in its entirety rather than a subset of it: it ends Japan’s IWC membership altogether and restructures the legal basis for all Japanese commercial whale hunting, covering multiple large whale species across the country’s territorial sea and EEZ. Japan operated the world’s largest whaling programme under the prior research-permit framework, and this withdrawal is the most significant single change to Japan’s whaling governance since it joined the 1986 moratorium, supporting High significance.
Within The System
Key Actors
The Cabinet of Japan took the decision; the Chief Cabinet Secretary made the public announcement on 25 December 2018. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs transmitted the formal IWC withdrawal notification. The Fisheries Agency (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) sets commercial whaling quotas and issues operating licenses. Kyodo Senpaku Co., Ltd. is the principal commercial whaling company. EIA, AWI, and IKAN documented and responded to the development. The IWC lost Japan as a member as of 30 June 2019.
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