A file photograph dated 07 January 2006 and released by Greenpeace, showing the Yushin Maru, a factory ship in a Japanese whaling fleet, injuring a whale with it's first harpoon attempt. A UN court in The Hague on 31 March 2014 halted Japan's much-criticized whaling programme, ruling that it contravenes a 1986 moratorium on whale hunting. Japan must end its 'research whaling' programme, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said. Japan said the programme was for scientific research and permitted under international conventions. Australia had brought the case to the ICJ in 2010, charging that Japan was breaching international law by killing hundreds of whales every year for commercial purposes. Japan was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling, an unnamed government official was quoted by the Kyodo News agency as saying. But the official said Japan would stand by the ruling. (Photo by Kate Davison/EPA)

A diver wearing a Santa Claus costume swims with fishes in a large tank during an underwater performance for the upcoming Christmas celebration at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan on December 1, 2022. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Kim Tae-yeon holds a national flag while waiting for a parade to celebrate the country's National Foundation Day in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, October 3, 2024. (Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

A woman wearing a four-leaf clover-like hairpin takes a selfie nearby Nanluoguxiang street in Beijing, China, September 16, 2015. Wearing antenna styled hairpins in the shape of various flowers and plants at scenic spots has become a new trend in Beijing. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Visitors walk past a train-shaped ice sculpture ahead of the 31st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, January 4, 2015. The winter festival will be officially opened on January 5, 2015. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Goats jumps to cross a stream as they are driven by a herdsman at Dashiwo village, on the outskirts of Beijing January 26, 2015. The Chinese Lunar New Year on February 19 will welcome the Year of the Sheep (also known as the Year of the Goat or Ram). (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

People wearing and holding helmets take part in a drill simulating a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Tokyo, Japan, August 26, 2016. The drill was held in Ginza, a high-end shopping and business district, and held ahead of the 93rd anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 which claimed at least 100,000 casualties. It was one of the largest natural disasters in recorded history and since 1960, September 1st, and the period around that date has been declared as national disaster prevention awareness period. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

The first runner-up of the Miss International 2016 Alexandra Britton (L) representing Australia reacts after she was named during the 56th Miss International Beauty Pageant in Tokyo, Japan October 27, 2016. Representatives from more than 69 countries and regions took part in the beauty contest. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)