It might not be shocking for many to know that 60% of Japanese people support the country's whaling programme. However, only 14% of them agreed that they eat whale meat.

The liberal Asahi Shimbun newspaper carried out a weekend poll involving 1,756 voters. The poll result unveiled 60% of the participants supported the 'research' whaling programme and 23% have opposed it.

As many as 48% said, they have not eaten whale meat for a long time and 37% of respondents said they do not eat whale meat. Though whale meat is not difficult to find in Japan, it is certainly not a part of regular diet of Japanese people.

The poll also found that 40% of the voters think the ICJ's verdict was correct and 39% do not think so.

It's not even a month that the United Nation's apex court ruled out that Japan needs to close its annul mission with regard to the whales in the Southern Ocean. The International Court of Justice also said that Japanese whaling vessels in reality represented a commercial hunt camouflaged as science to avoid an international ban.

But the topic of Japanese whaling has been discussed time and again. The anti-whaling groups will speak about how Japan's research whaling is not but just a fraud to put whales on the slaughter table. On the other hand, the pro-whaling group says whaling is part of Japanese culture and whales have been sufficiently recovered.

Tokyo has made clear that no hunting will take place in the Southern Ocean in 2014-15. But it also made clear to carry out 'non-lethal research'. The announcement has made many skeptical as harpoon ships could return the following year.

If this happens that Japan will be on conflict with anti-whaling nations like Australia that dragged Japan to the International Court of Justice.