Does the Japanese want to eat whale meat?

Of course, we can suspect as follows: "Don't the Japanese reluctantly eat pork, chicken, or beef, since whale meat is not supplied any more? But the reality is different. In 1999, Greenpeace International and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) jointly asked a British independent research agency, MORI (Market & Opinion Research International), to carry out a survey of the attitudes of the Japanese toward whaling. The survey was carried out targeting 1,185 Japanese in Japan who were over 17 years old. The targets for sampling were nationwide representatives of general Japanese, and the target people for the questionnaire were chosen to reflect the acknowledged population profile of the Japanese in the aspects of age, gender, and social background. The survey covers all areas in Japan, regardless of the opinions in each area whether they are against whaling or for whaling, to grasp the opinions of general Japanese people as a whole.

According to the survey, 61% of the Japanese ate whale meat, if ever, for the last time when they were children, and only 1% of them answered that they eat whale meat about once a month. And no one answered that he/she eats whale meat more frequently than about once a month.

It means that regardless of gender, age, and locality of residence, Japanese people rarely eat whale meat. The answer, "I have eaten whale meat when I was a child", probably indicate that these people ate whale meat in the 1960's when the supply of whale meat was active. For example, one of the five major supermarkets in Japan sells canned "whale meat boiled with soy sauce, sugar, and ginger" (50g, made by Kyokuyo) for 348 yen, however, the sales of the product per shop is only 5 cans/month, having only 0.1% share of the canned food sales. The fact that the price of the canned whale meat is higher than canned "beef boiled with soy sauce, sugar, and ginger" (80g/60g, sold for 108 yen) is not a factor to restrain the consumption of whale meat. Canned "boiled salmon" (50g, sold for 348 yen, made by Akebono), which is the same price as the cooked whale meat sells 34 cans/month per shop. By the way, the Japanese eat 3.83 million hamburgers per day. Presuming the population to be 120 million, the annual hamburger consumption in Japan is 11.6 hamburgers per person. The average annual consumption of whale meat is 30 g per person so the average Japanese eats 40 times as much meat in hamburgers as compared to whale.

Since these figures come only from the member companies of the Japan Hamburger Association, actual consumption of hamburger must be larger. It was in 1971 when the production of hamburgers started in Japan, and younger generations are more familiar with hamburgers. The fact that many chose an answer, "I ate whale meat for the last time when I was a child", in the following graph indicates that these people ate whale meat in a menu of school lunch. In Japan, the School Lunch Law was established in 1954. At that time, whale meat was getting less popular in spite of its moderate price, since the production of pork, chicken, or beef was getting stable in Japan, and the government began to use oversupplied whale meat for school lunch aggressively. The children who were in the first grade of elementary school in 1954 are 54 years old now. Thus, an eating experience of whale meat became widespread through school lunch in the compulsory education period. This is the reality of the "memory of eating whale meat in their childhood".

But, whale meat was not used for school lunch any more after the catch decreased and the price rose, and more people in younger generations chose the answer, "I have never eaten whale meat". It is true that there are more people who have enjoyed whale meat depending on area or in higher generations. However, even such people do not eat so much whale meat as before.

About how often do you eat whale meat nowadays? (graph)

Comments of key persons

Joji Morishita
Director of Whaling Section of Japan, Far Seas Fisheries Division, The Fisheries Agency of Japan

"it becomes clear from about the end of last year that research by-products (whale meat) are not selling well. Until recently the traders could sell whale meat whenever they had it and so didn't make any efforts, but bubble type consumption is over, and people who don't know how to eat whales are increasing as whale meat amount in markets is small. We must not lose whale food culture. We have to consider seriously methods of sale."
(In the briefing for the market players, 19th June 2001, The Suisan-Keizai)

Seiji Ohsuma
Director of the Institute of Cetacean Research

According to Seiji Oshiuma, Director of the Institute of Cetacean Research and an expert of the ecology of whales who attended the meeting in support of the Japanese government, accumula-tion of chemical substances in the body of North Atlantic minke whales which have appeared in the domestic market was confirmed after the scientific whaling by Japan. Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) grappling the food safety have asked the Japanese government to take measures for safety, however, the director expressed his opinion that the chemical substances would be no problem as the annual amount to be taken, since the annual consumption of whale meat per citizen was only about 30 grams.
(Commenting on the case pointed out by Norwegian NGO that fat of whales was highly polluted by PCB and DDT at the conference of the parties Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) held in Nairobi for reporters, April 14, 2000, Asahi Shimbun)

Masayuki Komatsu
Counsellor, the Fisheries Agency of Japan

"The supply of whale meat had been small and the meat sold well even at a high price until recently, however, it does not sell well any more." "We lacked the point of view to provide good quality whale meat. For example, we need such point of view as delivering the meat of whales caught in the waters off Sanriku Coast before the meat loses freshness using carrying vessels, even if the Japanese whaling is criticized as quasi-commercial whaling. You may sell the whale meat openly as the byproduct of the research." "It has been ten years since we started scientific whaling. Though the surveillance study has made progress, the ten years has been a dark period on selling the byproduct in good quality for reasonable prices."
(The press conference on the IWC annual meeting held on July 6: July 10, 2001, The Suisan-Keizai)

Fukuzo Nagasaki
Former director of the Institute of Cetacean Research

"Then, the problem for the operating body that who would continue such unprofitable whaling may occur. It is a problem for private enterprises to operate whaling in the Antarctic Ocean as before for chasing profit. We have to consider a highly public organization under the control of the government to be the main body of the whaling operation, and necessary parts of its accounting must be transparent, so that gained profit can be made public. We need to consider what kind of legal property should the organization will have in the case of Japan, however, private enterprises are not suitable for the operation body, since special considerations such as methods for operation, division of profits, and research actions will be required.
("Fisheries in the high seas in the future--Establishment of administrative structure for the preservation and continuing use of marine resources--", 1992, published by Tokyo Fisheries Promotion Foundation)

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