I Ate Whale Meat

More

As we browsed the stalls, Lunt explained how he would serve each dish. "Those are river crabs," he said, pointing to a box of bite-sized crustaceans. "You drown them in sake and fry them. They're like potato chips."

I kept wondering where the whale dealers were. Finally, I spied the strips of red meat that Lunt had served--wrapped tightly in cellophane, looking more like packs of bacon than corned beef. I took the opportunity to ask Lunt why he served whale.

"My understanding is that the whole thing is purely a political issue," Lunt said of the controversy. "There are certain elements--the nationalists--who believe it is not right for other countries to tell Japan what it can and cannot eat."

Lunt went on to explain that it was the Americans who encouraged the Japanese to eat whale as a cheap source of protein in the rebuilding years after World War II. Now, ironically, it is the Americans who are among the loudest to condemn Japan for continuing to eat it, Lunt said.

Most Japanese don't even like whale, he added. "It's the old boys who come in and order it," Lunt said. "Some people come in and say I shouldn't serve whale. But I don't mind a little controversy."

The Japanese whaling industry is again in the spotlight in the wake of a new documentary called The Cove, by director Louie Psihoyos, that seeks to expose the country's dolphin-hunting industry. Foreign Policy magazine also recently highlighted Japanese whaling in a critical light.

In fact, most Japanese I know don't eat much whale, which is now fairly expensive. But several agreed that the country should not be cowed into taking it off menus because of international standards. Some Japanese have argued that Minke whales, in particular, are actually growing in number and threatening to eliminate some species of fish.

About a week after eating whale, I joined my co-workers on another enkai. During dinner, I asked what other unusual foods they had eaten.

"Crocodile," said Tetsu Hasegawa, who has traveled to Australia.

"Dog," Shiggy said. "It was in China. I was like you with whale; I didn't know what it was."

Was he angry when he learned it was dog? "Not really. It is considered a delicacy."

"Ostrich," Hasegawa continued.

"Kangaroo," Shiggy said.

Andy's Shin Hinomoto is at 2-4-4 Yurakucho, Tokyo, Japan. Phone 03-3214-8021. Hours: 5 p.m. to midnight.

PAGES: 1 2

Jump to comments
Presented by

David Nakamura is a staff writer for The Washington Post who believes that safe tap water is an important ingredient for any city that aspires to food supremacy. More

David Nakamura is a staff writer for The Washington Post who missed authentic Japanese food so much that he took a year off to escape to Tokyo on an international affairs fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations. He has written about politics, education, sports and, every now and then, Japanese food for the Post. He headed a team of reporters that was awarded the 2005 Selden Ring Award for investigative reporting after exposing excessive levels of lead contamination in the District of Columbia's drinking water and the government's failure to notify the public. His general philosophy is that safe tap water is an important ingredient for any city that aspires to food supremacy.

Get Today's Top Stories in Your Inbox (preview)


Elsewhere on the web

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. blog comments powered by Disqus

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

Video

The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

'I Thought It Was Really Funny, but No One Else Did'

A day with New Yorker cartoonist Joe Dator

Video

New Yorkers: The Winemaker

Make your own wine ... in New York City

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

A Video Letter From the Editor

Highlights from the May 2013 issue

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

Video

The Rise of Environmentalism

Tracking 50 years, from the Love Canal disaster to Greenpeace

Video

Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Writers

Up
Down

More in Health

In Focus

2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

Just In