Japanese government officials believe the Australian Government is willing to risk Australia's relationship with Japan to help it win the general election later this year.
The ABC is reporting that the manner in which the Australian Government announced its recent decision to take Japan to the International Court of Justice over whaling has appalled the Japanese Government.
The announcement was made on the same day that the Australian Government controversially announced an advertising campaign to counter what it called misinformation about a mining tax.
Japanese officials have told the ABC that "on balance" it is hard to escape the conclusion that the Australian Government is prepared to risk the relationship for domestic political ends.
Disagreement 'not a small matter to Japanese'
When asked to comment, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith's office reissued the minister's statement of 28 May, when he announced the court action.
Mr Smith said then that he had spoken to his Japanese counterpart and they had agreed that "we would not allow such legal action to disturb the relationship".
The Japanese believe it is affecting the relationship, the ABC says. Its officials noted that Mr Smith had repeatedly said that the disagreement over whaling was a small matter but, in their view, it was a large one.
The Japanese believe they might not win all parts of the case but are confident that shows the court will rule Australia has no legitimate claim over the Southern Ocean.