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Japan's whaling fleet returns after catching 333 on Antarctic hunt devoid of protests

Apr 02 (Japan Times) - Japan’s whaling fleet returned on Saturday after catching more than 300 of the mammals in the Antarctic Ocean without interference from anti-whaling protests, officials said.

The fleet of five whalers set sail for the Southern Ocean in November in line with Tokyo’s continued pursuit of “research whaling” in defiance of global criticism.

Three of the vessels, including the mother ship, the Nisshin Maru, arrived at the port of Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture in the morning, a port official said.

The fleet caught 333 minke whales as planned without interference from anti-whaling campaigners, the Fisheries Agency said in a statement.

The whalers have been clashing with animal rights activists, particularly the aggressive Sea Shepherd, at sea for the past several years. But last year, Sea Shepherd announced it did not plan to carry out the maritime protests this season.

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New Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Ishiba is moving forward with personnel appointments, aiming to appoint former Defense Minister Iwaya as the new Foreign Minister.

Japanese weather officials say that over the next few days Typhoon Krathon will likely approach the southwestern islands of Okinawa Prefecture. (NHK)

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A Japanese government information-gathering satellite has successfully been put into a planned orbit around Earth. (NHK)

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The Hakamada case, a decades-long legal struggle, ended with an acquittal for Iwao Hakamada (88), who, along with his sister Hideko, fought for 58 years. Hakamada was suspected of the 1966 murder of a miso company executive’s family.

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