Government delegates and experts from prowhaling and antiwhaling nations have gathered in the traditional whaling town of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, for the Thursday start of the International Whaling Commission's 54th annual conference.
While the stage is set for fierce debate, most veteran observers do not expect any major developments, such as an end to the moratorium on commercial whaling agreed on in 1982.
That Japan and other prowhaling nations will remain at loggerheads with antiwhaling nations is a given.