Japanese whalers have discussed plans to resume their commercial hunting on July 1, for the first time in three decades.
Their preparation follows Japan's decision in December to leave the International Whaling Commission, abandoning the organisation that has largely become a home for conservationists.
The Fisheries Agency said whalers in six Pacific coast towns, including Taiji, which is known for dolphin hunts, are expected to bring five vessels to form a joint fleet beginning July 1, one day after Japan formally withdraws from the IWC.
Taiji is leading the effort as a traditional whale town and will contribute one vessel to the fleet that will catch minke whales.
Exact locations and hunting plans will be decided based on results of research operations planned by the end of June, said Shigeki Takaya, a Fisheries Agency official.
Catch quota and hunting schedule are yet to be decided.
But Japan will stop its much-criticised hunts in the Antarctic, where it had conducted what it called research hunts since the IWC-imposed moratorium in the 1980s.
Japan once caught as many as 1,200 whales in the Antarctic, but has increasingly cut back on its catch in recent years as international protests escalated and whale meat consumption slumped at home.
