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.
But Japan has now ignored that ruling and its whaling fleet left on December 1.
New Zealand Prime Minister and acting foreign minister, John Key, said yesterday's protest urged Japan, as a member of the International Whaling Commission, to respect the Commission's procedures and the advice of its scientific bodies.
"We consider that there is no scientific basis for the slaughter of whales and strongly urge the Government of Japan not to allow it to go ahead," he said.
"New Zealand has repeatedly expressed its opposition to Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. We will continue to work to see this outdated practice brought to an end."