Dear Sirs, The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor has begun an investigation into allegations made by Greenpeace of embezzlement involving smuggled whale meat which raise serious questions about the scale and extent of the abuse of taxpayers' money by the operators of the Southern Ocean whaling programme. I am delighted that the investigation has begun, but I am writing to you again to urge you to support an investigation into every allegation made and pressure is not brought to bear on the Prosecutor to only take action against individual crewmembers. The allegations cast another huge shadow over the reputation of the entire whaling programme sponsored by your government and only a transparent and thorough enquiry can help lift that. In addition I urge you to take the following actions: -Immediately suspend the tax payer subsidy to the whaling programme -Refuse any new whaling permits for Kyodo Senpaku -Refuse any new whaling permits for the Institute of Cetacean Research. Finally, during the period of the investigation and as part of the preparation for the meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Santiago Chile, I would also request that instead of preparing for another whaling expedition to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, your government agree to work with the government of Australia on a non-lethal research programme. By using the scientific resources of the Institute for Cetacean Research and the vessels from Kyodo Senpaku to collaborate on a mission that could bring real benefit to the marine environment of Antarctica which is increasingly threatened by the impacts of climate change, the government of Japan could lead the way in presenting a new way forward for marine protection and scientific collaboration.