Japan has said it will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and resume commercial whaling beginning in July in its waters and exclusive economic zone. However, the whale-meat-loving nation said its controversial hunts in the Antarctic will end. Japan, which claims most whale species are not endangered and that eating whale is part of its culture, has long campaigned without success for the IWC to allow commercial whaling. The decision was swiftly condemned by environmentalists.