was formed in 1987 and is a consolidation of earlier whaling departments of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese fisheries. The for-profit company conducts the collection, processing and wholesale of the whale byproducts on behalf of the Institute of Cetacean Research

Institute of Cetacean Research

The is a Japanese government-sponsored institution. It took over from the Whale Research Institute , which grew out of the Nakabe Scientific Research Centre ....

, in accordance with IWC Article VIII which specifically requires the byproducts to be sold and used.