Foods from other cultures can sometimes weird people out. It’s a typical response to be confused and/or repulsed something that’s not normal in your culture, but it’s always a good idea to try to understand it before you completely dismiss it.
Case in point, one Japanese food has caused more controversy than any other: whale meat. Those outside of Japan have long criticized the Japanese practice of eating whale, but Japanese defenders say that eating whale is no different from eating any of the many other forms of aquatic life that’s used in Japanese cuisine on a regular basis.
But is that the whole story? Why do the Japanese hunt and eat whale, and why do people want to stop them so badly? Let’s take a look:
Whaling
Japan isn’t the only country in the world that’s killed whales. Lots of cultures from all over the world have hunted, killed, and eaten whales – European, American, and Pacific cultures have all, at one time or another, hunted whale for food, ivory, blubber, or cultural reasons.
“The whiiiiite whaaale!”
So why is whaling uncommon now? Lots of whales have been recognized as endangered, and a lot of the products that people have gotten from whale has been replaced with more modern substitutes.
And a lot of people’s feelings have changed about whales, seeing them as an animal closer to us humans than your common, everyday sea creature. American movies like Free Willy and the recent Big Miracle show that people have strong, emotional attachments to whales.
But Japan still hunts and kills whales for scientific research. Japanese whalers claim that in order to protect fledgling whale populations, they have to capture and study whales.
This would all sound well and good, but critics say that scientific study is a thin veil for Japan’s “true” intentions – eating whale meat.
Eating Whale
In the United States, eating whale is a rare occurrence. Some Native American groups are permitted to hunt and eat a limited number of whales for cultural reasons, but otherwise whale hunting and consumption is pretty restricted.
Japan is a different story. After Japanese whalers have finished studying whales, they sell the meat for people to buy and eat. You can get whale at stores and restaurants across Japan and, up until last month, you could even buy whale meat on Amazon.
The Japanese have eaten whale for hundreds of years, but nowadays it’s uncommon. I think a lot of people have a misconception that whale is a regular part of the Japanese diet, but eating whale meat is more of an unusual, niche food.
I tend to think of eating whale in Japan as similar to eating something like alligator or squirrel in the US. It’s uncommon, but it’s still done.
During WW2 and the early postwar years, the Japanese ate a lot more whale meat because it was an easy, plentiful source of protein. One of my Japanese teachers in college said that she vaguely remembered eating whale for lunch at school as a kid, but didn’t think anything of it at the time.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering how it tastes – Koichi ate whale once and said it was “gamey.” He also says that the blubber was the best part. Yum!
What Lies Ahead?
At the moment, it appears whaling opponents and advocates are a at a bit of a standoff. Momentum has swung both ways over the years, but to date there still hasn’t been much of a change in the status quo – whalers are still taking to the seas to hunt whales, and anti-whaling activists are still trying their hardest to stop them.
In any case, what the Japanese do with whales is probably better than what we do in Oregon: blow ‘em with dynamite.