The New Zealand Government is leading more than 30 countries in a joint diplomatic protest against Japan's decision to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean.
The protest, headed by New Zealand's Ambassador to Japan, Mark Sinclair, delivered a formal message in Tokyo expressing their opinion.
A total of 33 countries, including the US, Australia, Mexico, South Africa and the EU member nations, were represented.
The protest comes after a Japanese Government announcement on November 27 that it would resume its Southern Ocean whaling programme despite a ruling against the practice by the International Court of Justice last year.
Australia, with help from New Zealand, brought a case against Japan's whaling and the court ruled that Japan's decades-old whale hunt in the Antarctic should stop. This prompted Tokyo to cancel most of its whaling for the 2014/2015 season.