Anti-whaling groups have expressed concern after reports Japan is considering withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial whaling.
It comes just three months after anti-whaling nations, including Australia, voted down a Japanese push to end the ban.
Japanese officials have not officially confirmed the reports, but have declared "all options are on the table".
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Japan hunts whales for what it calls "research purposes" but critics say that's a sham.
AAP
Citing unnamed government sources, local news agency Kyodo said a formal decision to withdraw from the IWC would come by the end of the year.
The possible move has attracted international criticism.
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Nicola Beynon, from environmental group Humane Society International, said such a move would be troubling.
"The International Whaling Commission is the body that is recognised under international law as being responsible for the conservation and management of whales," she told SBS News.
"So we're very concerned about Japan abandoning multilateralism and rules-based order, and we're concerned about the precedent it might set and if it encourages other countries to do the same."
