A group of seafood wholesalers in Tsukiji Market in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, will host a meeting this coming weekend to raise awareness among themselves and the public about Japan's whaling history and its whale-eating culture.

Ginrin-kai organised the event in cooperation with the town government of Taijicho, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan's main whaling port, which is featured in the documentary film "The Cove" due to its dolphin and whale hunting. The meeting comes after the government cancelled this season's research whaling although many whaling vessels are still in the Antarctic region. Applications are being accepted from the public to participate in the event and there will be various talks including from a staff member of the Taiji Whale Museum who plans to describe the current situation of the town, where whale hunting is closely connected with the local culture and local people's lives. People in charge of wholesale firms in Tsukiji Market and some related to research whaling will talk about whale biology. Katsuhiko Ueda, a Fisheries Agency official who has promoted the eating of fish, will speak about whale dishes.

Tsukiji Market handled about 220,000 kilograms of whale meat in 2010, compared with about 1.8 million kilograms in 1980, the year before commercial whaling was banned. Whaling has remained a strong tradition in Japan for many years, and long after the practice died out in many Western countries. Japan's whaling market consists mainly of Baird's Beaked Whales, Pilot Whales and Dall's Porpoises. The Marine Connection recently heard that Taiji have stopped its killing of dolphins and small whales also a month early.