As the Japanese whaling fleet prepares for this year's summer whale hunt, a new poll has found support for whale meat consumption in Japan at its lowest in years.

The poll by Nippon Research Centre surveyed 1,200 people, and almost 90 per cent of respondents said they had not bought whale meat in the past year.

"Of those 11 per cent that have bought it, many of them it was just once within the last year so," said Patrick Ramage from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which commissioned the poll.

"Even among those who are very occasionally buying whale meat, it's less and less a staple in their diet."

The poll also found that 90 per cent of respondents expressed opposition to the use of government money to build a new factory ship for whaling.

The whaling fleet is expected to depart for the Southern Ocean in the coming weeks.

The poll results were released after environmentalists and nationalists held opposing rallies over the issue of Japan's dolphin and whale hunts in a rare showdown in central Tokyo.

About 50 anti-whaling activists gathered at a park in the Shibuya shopping district with banners bearing slogans such as "Stop the cruel dolphin hunt", while across the street about 30 nationalists shouted "Get out of Japan".

The nationalists accused the environmentalists of undermining Japanese culture and traditions, saying "environmental terrorists" should be sent to slaughter houses.

The rally was part of demonstrations to be held around the world against the killing of dolphins in the Japanese town of Taiji, according to the organiser, Action for Marine Mammals.

Taiji, in western Japan, drew global attention after The Cove, a hard-hitting film about the annual dolphin hunts there, won the Academy Award for best documentary in 2010.

Fishermen corral hundreds of dolphins into a secluded bay, select a few dozen for sale to aquariums and slaughter the rest for meat.

The dolphin hunt takes place over a period of months.

ABC/AFP