The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun
TSUNAMI-HIT JAPANESE TOWN LOOKS TO WHALE MEAT FOR RENEWED SUSTENANCE
Suddenly there was whale meat curry and tatsuta-age fried whale meat. In September 2014, when I was a political news reporter, I went to the restaurant inside the Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters in Tokyo one day and was surprised to find that whale meat dishes had been added to the menu.
“We followed the instructions of General Council Chairperson [Toshihiro] Nikai,” a party staff member told me, referring to Nikai by his then title in the party. This clarified the situation. Nikai, now the LDP’s secretary general, comes from the town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, a famous whaling base. At the time, countries against whaling, such as Australia, were intensifying their criticism of Japan’s research whaling. They did not intimidate Nikai, who instead chose to reinforce the importance of whale as part of the traditional food culture of Japan by appealing directly to the stomachs of LDP lawmakers. It was around this time that Nikai proudly held a whale meat tasting event at the party headquarters.
Those were all very Nikai-like responses, I thought, because he was known for his forceful ways. I ate the tatsuta-age, which reminded me of eating the dish at home and school in my childhood.
This all came back to me again when I heard that one district hit by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake was trying to reconstruct itself by putting whales at the forefront. Partly driven by my appetite for whale meat, I made two trips to the Ayukawa district of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in April and June. It’s about a twohour drive from Sendai.
As I approached the district, the rounded black roof of a large building on raised land loomed into view. It looked like the back of a huge whale, although I heard the resemblance was coincidental. This is the commercial and tourism center called Whale Town Oshika. It has three sections: Shops and restaurants; a visitor center introducing the nature of Oshika Peninsula; and a whale museum called Oshika Whale Land, which began gradually opening in 2019. Construction of the facility was mainly funded from the public reconstruction budget.
FEEDING SPRY ELDERS
Whale Town Oshika is operated by a local community development association called Ayukawa Machizukuri Kyokai.
“When whaling was at its height from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, there were about 10 whaling companies in Ayukawa, and more than 15,000 people lived in the now-defunct town of Oshika, which included Ayukawa,” said Tomiji Saito, 61, the head of the association. “The town thrived with people going to bars and cinemas. As whaling declined, many people left the town. After the catastrophic damage caused by the quake, the population has declined to about 2,300. But now we have this great facility, so I’d like to get the word out that fresh whale meat is available here and make the place thrive again by putting whales to the fore.”
Close to a fertile fishing ground in the waters off Kinkasan Island, Ayukawa Port developed as a whaling base. Whale meat became a staple of the town, where it is still frequently consumed by many households.
“That’s why the elderly people here are all fit,” Saito said.
Walking inside the facility, I was
amazed by the complete skeleton of a 16.9-meter sperm whale on display near the entrance of the museum. With sharp teeth arrayed along its gaping jaw, the skeleton looks ready to gobble you up.
On the facility’s seaward side, the whaling ship Toshimaru No.16 is displayed. The vessel, which famously survived the 2011 tsunami, has been a source of moral support for local people as the city’s symbol of reconstruction.
After learning about whales and nature, it’s time to eat.
The facility houses several restaurants, all serving fresh whale meat and seafood. During my first visit, I ordered the sashimi set meal at the restaurant Plaza Saito. Whale sashimi has firmer, more elastic texture than fish sashimi. But it tastes light and quite soft for the thickness. As the set meal contained whale sashimi from various cuts, such as bright red akami lean meat, white blubber and saezuri tongue, I could enjoy different tastes and textures. The sashimi had no off-putting smell.
On my second visit, I had the pleasure of eating whale sushi at the Koganezushi sushi bar. The fatty texture of whale meat was nice, and the sushi looked beautiful in red and white. I heard that in Ishinomaki whale sashimi is served on festive occasions, such as weddings and New Year’s Day, and people put both colors of sashimi — red meat and white fatty skin — into their mouths at the same time. Another popular dish at the sushi bar is a bowl of rice with whale yukhoe (a Korean-style raw meat dish).
IMPROVING COMMERCIAL QUALITY
I heard an interesting story from Katsuharu Furuuchi, the sushi bar’s 77-year-old chef, and his son, Katsunori, 47.
Two years ago, Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission and switched its whaling policy from research whaling to commercial whaling (under the influence of Nikai’s lobbying). The pair said the freshness and the taste of whale meat radically improved as a result. Whales caught in research whaling are brought back without being gutted because researchers examine what the whales feed on. In commercial whaling, internal organs and blood are removed immediately after whales are caught.
“It’s become possible to maintain the freshness and the good taste of whale meat, and it also does not smell as bad,” the elder Furuuchi said.
The meat may taste better, but the environment surrounding whaling remains difficult.
About 60 common minke whales caught in research whaling landed at Ayukawa Port every year before the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. But the number has dropped to the single digits in the past couple of years. Some say the decline was caused by changes in the sea after the quake. Others blame global warming. Apparently, the Ayukawa district can still get hold of fresh whale meat landed in other prefectures, and whales are also caught in fixed nets near the port.
Domestic consumption of whale meat has been declining as well. Consumption in recent years has been 3,000 tons to 5,000 tons, just 1% to 2% of the amount in fiscal 1962, the peak year of whale meat consumption in Japan. I imagine many young people these days have never eaten whale meat in their life.
Whale meat used to be a precious source of protein to Japanese suffering from food shortages following World War II. What’s more, whaling culture in Japan apparently dates back to prehistoric times. It would be a shame to allow it to decline and disappear without doing anything, not least from the viewpoints of the delicious taste and food security. Of course, the need for resource management and conservation of whales is a given.
Saito said whale meat is low in fat and calories and high in protein, adding that it even contains a substance that fights fatigue.
“I’d like to gather related health data and various recipes to promote whale meat,” he said.
People in the Ayukawa district have a dream — branding whale meat, which will attract many tourists to the district and revitalize the whole area. Nikai’s tactics of appealing directly to the stomachs of many people at every opportunity may be a good point of reference to make the dream come true. As a consumer, I think the more people eat whale meat, the more whale meat fans there will be.
MORE OF OSHIKA PENINSULA
On a side note, Oshika Gobansho Park on the tip of the Oshika Peninsula is a great scenic spot with a fantastic view of Kinkasan Island. On the west side of the peninsula is Tsukinoura, where Hasekura Tsunenaga (1571-1622) set sail for Rome in 1613 at the order of feudal lord Date Masamune. A statue of Hasekura stands there today. Why not visit them during a sightseeing trip of Ayukawa?