Environmentalists in the icy seas, risking life and limb to save whales from the harpoons of Japanese hunters — it makes for good headlines in the West and has even spawned a TV series, "Whale Wars."

But such efforts by environmental groups like Greenpeace have done nothing to slow Japan's annual hunt, which kills about 1,000 whales a year.

So the organization is taking a softer approach to its antiwhaling campaign in Japan, where many don't approve of protests and civil disruption.