for it. One such example is a booth at a market in Osaka, which exclusively sells
whale meat (see Fig. 3.3).
Whether or not whale meat can be considered integral to Japanese cuisine is
probably best left to the Japanese to decide for themselves. Many Japanese of around
40 or more years of age that I personally have spoken with about this issue note that
whale meat used to be a common dish in schools. This was also due to the fact that
after the Second World War, when the country was economically on its knees, the
American forces encouraged the introduction of whale meat as a staple in order to
alleviate the food shortage the country was experiencing. It was only after the war
that whale became a country-wide source of food—primarily as canned meat.
Whether or not this is a matter of culture or cultural history remains for the people
of Japan to decide for themselves and I refrain from making a judgement on this
issue. Either way, anthropological studies have shown that whales and whaling have
been a part of the socio-economic landscape in certain regions. The claim that Japan
does not have a whaling history and that whaling is first and foremost a nationalistic
power play
12 is factually incorrect.
13
Fig. 3.3 Whale meat booth in Osaka, # Nikolas Sellheim
12 Morikawa (2013).
13 E.g. Kishigami et al. (2013).
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3 Marine Mammals and Humans