Interviews and blogs

I asked four people in Japan whether they eat whale meat or not. The summaries are translated and their names and exact age are not given. They are followed by a couple of blogs and a newspaper column.



Female (early 70s) from Nagoya
I've always wondered who was eating the whale meat. I don't think they've been eaten at ordinary households for 50~60 years now. I remember seeing whale bacon at a fish market 40 years ago but not since the supermarkets emerged. We had school lunch but it was always just hard bread and powder milk, my age group didn't have much to eat. There were canned 'Yamato-ni' but my mother didn't get any. I heard that people of Taiji kill coastal whale for living so the locals may be eating some but I can only speculate that the rest are processed and mixed with other fish into paste. 

Male (mid 60s) from Tokyo
I was born in Yamaguchi Pref. so the whale meat was part of my diet just as other fish were, until I moved to Tokyo. Since then, I've hardly had any. I've seen a very small quantity of meat sold in fish shops at times and I'm guessing they come via special route. I don't see the old 'Yamoto-ni' canned whale meat around but I hear that the famous 'Kujiraya' restaurant is doing well. I suppose the whale meat these days are consumed partly by those who used to eat it as a normal diet and the gourmet seekers.

Female (early 50s) from Tokyo
I think whale meat is hardly eaten at ordinary homes except at certain coastal towns. My work colleagues  can order from menu at their favourite pub. One, in his late-30s, eat whale sashimi once a year. Another, in his early-40s from Okinawa, eat whale dish once every 3 visits. Another colleague in his mid-40s from Chiba, remembers when a whale beached at his hometown. The locals wanted some meat but was told it was illegal to help themselves. I was astonished to find anyone eating whale meat so close. Canned 'Yamato-ni' can be found at rare food shops and there are few whale restaurants in Tokyo so I suppose there is a demand.

Female (early 20s) from Hokkaido
I have never tried whale meat and I don't know of anyone around me who have tasted it. When I was a child, I didn't think they were edible. Having said all that, Hokkaido is a vast island and in coastal towns such as Kushiro, whales are caught for some reason and meat is consumed. That is what I saw on TV but as far as I know, it is extremely rare to eat whale meat and it isn't part of our diet.


Edward from blogsite JAPUNDIT wrote in 2006 that he hadn't been able to locate any whale meat yet. Robert Fish from About Japan: a teacher's resource is inviting students' opinions on eating whale from both scientific and cultural perspective. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any response. Bharti Legros, a freelance writer wrote 'Whaling: the meat of the matter' in 2008 of his culinary experience at Kujiraya restaurant.

They all give their insight into this controversial issue of eating whale meat at ground level. Fascinating.