Pretty much everything Japan eats is tied to the sea. It’s not like they have broad, rolling pastures filled with herds of cattle.
Beef. It’s what Japan calls Whale.
It’s one thing to hunt animals for food (humanely, which is often not the case with whaling), but another thing entirely to hunt endangered species for profitable status-symbol delicacies. These species are not Japan’s private property. If they can figure out a way to raise and hunt whales in their own waters, I’d have no objection.