In the upcoming Australian general election, there is one issue that the major parties unanimously agree on: opposition to Japanese whaling. Voters are overwhelmingly antagonistic to whaling and Australian politicians have demonstrated an increasing willingness to listen to public opinion.
In May, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that Australia was taking Japan to the International Court of Justice over Tokyo's annual Antarctic whale kill. At the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Morocco the following month, Australia was at the forefront of those opposed to lifting the 25-year ban on commercial whaling.
In Japan too, tensions have risen. Last month, a court found activist Peter Bethune of antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd guilty of violent and obstructive behavior. Meanwhile, protests against the Oscar-winning U.S. film "The Cove" led to theaters in Tokyo and Osaka cancelling screenings. Last year, the Australian town of Broome, sister city of Taiji, where "The Cove" was filmed, suspended ties that went back to the early 1900s (relations were restored two months later).