(JP) Fewer people have a taste for whale meat

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http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2002052000353.html

 

STORMY WATERS/MEATY ISSUE: Young adults loath to trade

in burgers

 

By PAUL BAYLIS: Asahi Shimbun News Service

 

Despite intense efforts by the government and

pro-whaling groups to sustain the whaling industry,

years of limited supply, high prices and

ever-increasing culinary alternatives mean fewer

people have a taste for whale meat, or any desire to

eat it.

 

This is especially true among young adults, the group

that would be expected to sustain any market for whale

food products in the future.

 

Recent interviews conducted in Tokyo's Ginza district

found that few young adults had tried whale meat, and

those who had seemed unimpressed.

 

``If I had a choice between whale meat and a

hamburger, I would take the hamburger,'' said

22-year-old college student Jun Suzuki, who said he

had not tried whale even once. ``It just isn't part of

my dietary culture.''

 

A 24-year-old officer worker who declined to give her

name said she had eaten whale meat ``once or twice,''

but had no desire to eat it more often.

 

``Eating whale is like eating bear or deer because

it's so unusual,'' she said. ``It's not part of the

diet I'm used to.''

 

According to an Asahi Shimbun survey conducted in

March of 2,060 adults of voting age, 53 percent said

they had not eaten whale for ``quite a long time.''

Another 33 percent said they didn't eat it at all, and

4 percent said they ate it ``from time to time.'' Nine

percent said they ate it ``only occasionally.''

 

Asked what came to mind when they heard the word

``whale,'' the largest group, 25 percent, said

``food.'' The second largest group, 24 percent, said

``conservation of animal life.''

 

Of those who said ``food,'' 30 percent were aged 50 or

older. Of those who said ``conservation,'' 30 percent

were in their 20s.

 

According to Makoto Ito, secretary-general of the

Japan Whaling Association, ``Younger people have

little opportunity to eat whale meat, so they tend to

think of whales as something to look at.''

 

Whale meat sales also suggest demand for the product

is in decline. According to the Institute of Cetacean

Research, which oversees Japan's ``scientific''

whaling program and controls the supply of whale meat,

demand for minke whale meat products fell for the

first time at the wholesale level last summer. About

30 percent of stocks remained unsold, according to

data released in January. The institute attributed the

reduced demand to the economic slump, and has since

reduced the price of whale meat products by about 20

percent.

 

Yet for many young adults, it doesn't seem to matter

how cheap whale meat is, since they have little

intention of buying it or eating it anyway.

 

``I wouldn't eat more even it was cheaper,'' said Chie

Toyoshima, a 28-year-old software company employee,

who said she ate whale meat once or twice a year in

restaurants. ``I could live without eating it at

all,'' she said.

 

Masahiko Okubo, 29, an imported-goods salesman,

expressed a similar view, saying, ``Even if it was

very cheap, I wouldn't eat it.''

 

Yoshihiko Hidaka, a 28-year-old salesman, who said he

eats whale meat once or twice a year in restaurants,

said even if supermarkets prices were much cheaper, he

would be unlikely to buy it.

 

``I wouldn't buy it because there is such a wide

selection of other meats to choose from.''

 

All of this is bad news for people who make their

livings buying, selling and serving whale meat.

 

Takashi Sato, the 67-year-old proprietor of Taruichi,

a chain of three restaurants that advertises

``mukashii, natsukashii kujira'' (old-time, nostalgic

whale) and features such delicacies as whale

intestines, testicles and uterus, said most of his

customers are middle-aged company employees. On

Saturdays, however, his restaurant in Tokyo's

Kabukicho district does get an influx of people in

their 20s.

 

Still, ``Young people don't know the taste of whale

these days,'' he said. ``I would like them to try at

least one slice.''

 

Sato compares the importance of eating whale for

Japanese culture to the strict dietary customs of the

Hindu and Muslim religions.

 

``I want to appeal to Japanese young people. It's

important that they understand Japanese food culture.

I want to change the hamburger culture to a whale meat

culture, but unfortunately, we don't have enough whale

meat to do that.''

 

Few young people, however, seem interested in trading

their hamburgers for whale burgers.

 

``It's too chewy and I don't like the taste,'' said

Aya Suzuki, a 28-year-old homemaker. ``If there was no

more whale meat, that would be OK with

me.''(IHT/Asahi: May 20,2002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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