As far as I knew they never stopped. They've gathered and killed hundreds of whales for "scientific research" purposes while part of the IWC. Also not the only country to do so. Now they're just calling a spade a spade.
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Not that I agree with them
I'm not fully sure how a whale breeding program would work given they're extremely migratory, family-oriented, and don't do well in enclosed spaces. How would such a program be executed!
Interestingly enough, apparently in Japanese folklore they looked more like this:
https://hyakumonogatari.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/ningyo-niku1.jpg
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They were/are called ningyo, I believe are classified as Yokai, and had varying degrees of sizes and human-features (some had arms and torsos, but far from the beautiful young seductresses we typically tend to envision), but they seemed to always be more fish-like than human.
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But, then, Japan has evolved since then, and found ways to add boobs and statutory rape (at least in other countries) to just about everything
They have been caught on several occasions hunting endangered species. Additionally, the species they hunt that aren't endangered they have been found to be more than happy killing pregnant females. I imagine this is much like disguising the killing as "research." They won't be "officially" hunting endangered species.
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Not that I agree with them
https://hyakumonogatari.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/ningyo-niku1.jpg
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They were/are called ningyo, I believe are classified as Yokai, and had varying degrees of sizes and human-features (some had arms and torsos, but far from the beautiful young seductresses we typically tend to envision), but they seemed to always be more fish-like than human.
'
But, then, Japan has evolved since then, and found ways to add boobs and statutory rape (at least in other countries) to just about everything