Eating whale meat more policy than tradition

BY YASUKAZU AKADA AND SEIICHIRO UTANO

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Whenever verbal or even physical attacks are waged against Japanese whaling, the government is quick to argue that eating whale meat is an age-old tradition in Japan that should be respected.

But is it?

Westerners' aversion to the meat has been underscored by environmentalists' repeated attacks against Japanese whaling vessels claimed to be used for scientific research in the Antarctic Ocean.

And judging by sales, many younger Japanese people also don't buy the argument that eating whale is a proud part of their culinary heritage. In fact, there was a time when Japanese were the ones holding anti-whaling protests.

The apparent lack of interest in whale meat among young Japanese was evident when Hokushin Suisan, a major marine products retailing chain, held a whale products fair in mid-March in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Most of the visitors appeared to be in their 50s or older.

A 55-year-old homemaker said she bought whale meat bacon because her husband likes it and it's difficult to find at supermarkets.

Customers at Hogeisen (whaling boat), an izakaya pub in Tokyo's Asakusa district that specializes in whale meat cuisine, seem to eat the meat more for a sense of nostalgia than tradition.

"My mission is to pass on the (food) culture to the younger generations," said the 62-year-old manager of the pub, which serves about 15 whale dishes, including sashimi, steak and fried nuggets.

He acknowledged that whale meat is special to baby boomers because it reminds them of their childhoods.

A 46-year-old regular who visits the pub three times a week said he always enjoyed the fried whale nuggets served for lunch at his elementary school.

"In those days, I could find only carrots and shiitake mushrooms in the school's curry. Whale meat was a precious (source of protein)," the company employee said.

Eating whale meat makes him nostalgic for those days, he said, adding that the nuggets were very hard to chew but otherwise delicious.

According to Tomoya Akimichi, deputy director-general of the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japanese people started eating whale meat around the middle of the Jomon Period (from about 8000 B.C. until about 300 B.C.).

Akimichi denied the argument by some anti-whaling activists that eating whale meat is barbaric, noting that people in South Korea and New Zealand also used to eat the meat.

"We cannot draw the line between barbarism and civilization over a dietary culture peculiar to a certain region," he said.

The strong anti-whaling protests, especially those in the Antarctic Ocean, have also raised questions among some Japanese about why Westerners don't eat whale meat.

For Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an environmental protection group based in the United States, the answer is easy: His vegan lifestyle precludes him from eating whale meat.

Vegans avoid consuming any animal products, including eggs and honey.

Watson was aboard the Sea Shepherd vessel that attacked Japanese whaling vessels earlier this year.

The 57-year-old Canadian said in a telephone interview with The Asahi Shimbun that eating meat places a burden on the environment because animals bred for meat, such as beef cattle, require large quantities of land and plants to survive.

Even for some carnivorous Westerners, eating whale meat poses ethical questions.

A 30-year-old Spanish man living in Tokyo said he tried eating whale meat two years ago.

The man, an aspiring aikido martial arts master, said he felt reluctant to eat whale because they are such intelligent creatures.

He also found the taste unappetizing.

"I don't believe that whale meat is indispensable to Japanese people because they can enjoy various delicacies from across the world," he said.

A 38-year-old Australian man said he unknowingly ate whale meat at an izakaya pub in Tokyo.

The man, a sommelier working for a domestic restaurant chain, said he was upset when he later found out he had eaten whale, adding that blood was dripping from the fatty, malodorous meat.

Masami Iwasaki, professor of cultural anthropology at Hokkai-Gakuen University, said cultural differences should be respected as much as possible because diversity is advantageous to all human beings.

That may be true, but is eating whale really the long-held Japanese tradition or practice as pushed by the government?

Hiroyuki Watanabe, a researcher of environmental sociology at Kyoto University, said the practice of eating whale meat began to spread across Japan around 1900, following the introduction of the Norwegian-style whaling method using harpoon guns.

The new whaling technique triggered strong opposition in some parts of Japan.

In 1911, up to 1,000 fishermen in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, staged a demonstration against a whaling company because they considered whales sacred creatures.

Similar protests took place in Chiba and Ishikawa prefectures.

Despite government support for the whaling industry, whale meat accounted for only 10-20 percent of Japan's total meat supply in the 1930s.

Eating whale meat became more common during the U.S.-led occupation of Japan after World War II when whaling in the Antarctic Ocean gained the approval of the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers.

Between 1946 and 1965, whale meat accounted for 23-46 percent of Japan's meat supply. But after that, whaling restrictions caused the supply to shrink, and the meat was replaced by chicken and pork.

Watanabe said eating whale meat became common during limited periods in certain parts of the country.

"(Eating whale meat) is a dietary habit developed in part because of government policy," Watanabe said.

Research whaling supplied 4,154 tons of whale meat in fiscal 2006, or less than 0.2 percent of the 2.4 million tons of pork supplied in the same year.

The limited supply of whale meat has kept prices high and consumption stagnant. Despite a growing stock of more than 3,000 tons of whale meat, prices are kept high so that sales revenues will cover whaling research costs for the following year.(IHT/Asahi: April 22,2008)