Japan denies dropping whale hunt

"There is no (new) written, diplomatic agreement between Japan and the United States over the current specific whaling mission... and whaling in general,'' Tomohiko Taniguchi, spokesman for the Japanese foreign ministry.
He was responding to comments by US ambassador Thomas Schieffer, who reportedly told journalists earlier today that Japan and the United States agreed on no harvesting of humpback whales for the time being.
Mr Taniguchi said the ambassador might have meant to refer to various discussions between Japan and the United States and suggested whaling had been one of many topics covered.
He added, however, that he was not aware of the context in which Mr Schieffer made the remarks.
"I cannot disclose exactly what diplomatic discussions we are having. But there is no concrete, diplomatic agreement on whaling between Japan and the United States,'' Mr Taniguchi said.
Japan's ships set sail last month on the country's largest hunt yet, which for the first time since the 1960s will kill humpbacks, one of the most popular animals for Australian whale watchers.
The mission defied warnings from Japan's usual Western allies including Australia.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday said the Government would deploy an unarmed customs ship and a surveillance aircraft to monitor the Japanese hunt as well as appoint an envoy in Tokyo to press its case.
The Japanese Government responded by calling for calm, and said it hoped Australia "would come to understand its whaling".
Japan, which says whaling is part of its culture, is carrying out the hunt in the Antarctic Ocean using a loophole in a 1986 global moratorium on commercial whaling that allows "lethal research'' on the giant mammals.