Japan holds whale meat auction after hunting ban was lifted

Whale meat auctions were held in different parts of Japan, the first since the country ended its 31-year commercial whaling hiatus earlier this week, with some cuts sold for over 10,000 yen ($93) per kilogram, the media reported.

A whaling fleet left Kushiro on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Monday to hunt in coastal waters and took two minke whales later the same day, reports Kyodo News Agency.

On Thursday, a separate fleet caught a Bryde's whale offshore after departing Monday from the port of Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, its operator said.

Approximately 66 kg of meat from one of the two whales was then brought to Taiji, Wakayama prefecture, for an auction because a vessel from the town was among the fleet.

Auctions were also held in the Aomori and Miyagi, with certain cuts of the whale snatching up to 15,000 yen ($139) per kg at an event in Sendai.

Approximately 130 kg of meat was auctioned off at about 4,500 ($42) to 7,000 yen ($65) per kg to numerous fishmongers and restaurants in Ishinomaki, Miyagi

In Kushiro, the whale meat lined shopping aisles after being sold for a high of 4,000 yen ($37).

Tokyo restarted commercial whaling after formally withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission on June 1.