Japan's coastguard today arrested an anti-whaling activist from New Zealand who boarded a whaling vessel in the Antarctic following clashes between hunters and environmentalists, a spokesman said.
Media helicopters hovered overhead as a flotilla of ships sailed into Tokyo Bay and Pete Bethune of the hardline Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was brought ashore after being held on board for the four-week trip.
Sea Shepherd's regular attempts to block the annual whale hunt have sparked irritation in Japan, where the government says whaling is an important cultural tradition.
Mr Bethune, the captain of the Ady Gil, a high-tech vessel that was damaged in a collision with a Japanese whaling ship in January, approached Japan's Shonan Maru 2 on a jet ski, breached anti-boarding nets and climbed aboard in darkness on February 15th.
Sea Shepherd said the 44-year-old had been planning to attempt a citizen's arrest of the skipper.
Bethune was arrested on the ship on arrival in Tokyo, the coastguard spokesman said. Crowds of media and a handful of pro-whaling demonstrators were awaiting his arrival on the pier, which was blocked from view by blue tarpaulins.
"We want the Japanese government to punish the activist as severely as possible under Japanese law and ask the New Zealand government to remove the Ady Gil's ship registration," said protester Shuhei Nishimura.
A coast guard official later told reporters Mr Bethune appeared to be in good health and was answering questions readily.
Last month Australia set Japan a November deadline to stop Southern Ocean whaling or face an international legal challenge.
Some legal experts say Japan's hunt breaches international laws such as the Antarctic Treaty System. A court challenge would lead to provisional orders for Japan to immediately halt whaling ahead of a full hearing.
The top government spokesman said today that he did not believe the issue would harm ties between Japan and Australia, which have important trade ties.
"I don't think the relationship with Australia will worsen because each country has stuck with the same policy argument until now," chief cabinet secretary Hirofumi Hirano told reporters.
Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 moratorium, but Japan still hunts whales for what it says are research purposes. The meat mostly ends up on dinner tables
Reuters