Photo: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images
For: The opinion Posted Jan 29, 2023, 0:47 am EST
In an effort to protect the country’s whaling culture, Japan’s public and private sectors are promoting greater consumption of whale meat, and one initiative includes selling the food in vending machines.
According to The Japan News, Kyodo Senpaku Co., a major Tokyo-based whaling company, will open four vending shops for whale meat and processed whale meat products in Tokyo and other parts of Japan in mid-February.
Since the end of December and as a market test vending machines have been selling whale meat and related processed products.
Products offered by these machines include frozen items such as red whale meat, which can be used for sashimi and rare steaks; fur; bacon; and sets of canned cooked whale, including Yamatoni slow-cooked meat.
Kyodo Senpaku Co. plans to open two more unstaffed stores in Tokyo’s Motomachi and Yokohama districts in late January and one in Osaka’s Umeda district in mid-February and will monitor sales with a view to increase the number of stores to about 100 nationwide in the next five years.
Whale consumption is Japan
After the ravages of World War II, whale meat became a vital source of protein in Japan. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan consumed 233,000 tons of whale meat in fiscal year 1962, far exceeding the figures for beef (157,000) and chicken (155,000).
However, the whale population began to decline drastically due to excessive hunting. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission, which controls whale populations as a marine resource, declared a moratorium on commercial whaling.
In December 2018, Japan announced its withdrawal from the organization and the resumption of commercial hunting, a decision that provoked rejection in the international community.
Currently, the government of Japan specifies catch quotas to avoid adverse effects on whale populations. This year, for example, the quota is set at a total of 379 whales of three species.
Since Japan withdrew from the IWC, domestic consumption of whale meat has been relatively low, between 1,000 and 2,000 tons per year.