At long last, Asahi Shimbun has provided an article titled 'Is Whale a
Traditional Japanese Food?' clarifying the history of whale consumption
in Japan ("Kujira wa Nihon no Dentou shoku ka?" April 3rd, morning
edition).  Here I provide a digest, with some observations (in parentheses).

One can see from this article that certain organizations are involved
in promoting whale as food.  (We hear that whale meat is a by-product of
scientific research, but the article, focused on tradition, does not
investigate this dimension.)  The reporters visit a promotional event in
Fujisawa, Kanagawa-ken and a whale meat restaurant in Asakusa, Tokyo.

In the photo from the Fujisawa event we see a banner with the image of
Shiro Yamaoka, a character from 'Oishimbo', a gourmet comic series
popular among young people.  In spite of such efforts, it appeared to
the reporter that most attending the fair were 50 or older.  Prices are
high.  The retail price of loin whale meat is 4.98 yen/gram, cuts for
braising is 3.19 yen/gram.  Interviews suggest that nostalgia is a major
reason for those who buy.

Anthropologist Tomoya Akimichi says that the Japanese were eating whale
meat by the mid Jomon period (around 2500 BC).  He adds that in the past
whale was consumed in Korea and New Zealand too.  (The article does not
clarify whether there was active organized hunting or it was mere
consumption of stray or dead whales that occasionally wash up on beaches.)

According to Hiroyuki Watanabe, who studies ecological sociology at
Kyoto University, whale meat became commonplace in Japan at around 1900.
  In 1911, several hundred fishermen of Hachinohe, Aomori-ken, a region
with tradition of admiring the whale as a divine animal, protested
against a whaling company.  The protests became violent and led to
casualties.  Anti-whaling movements also occurred in Chiba-ken and
Ishikawa-ken.

The article shows a graph of yearly per capita consumption of whale,
beef, pork and chicken, and the percentage of whale among meat
consumed.  Whale was a major meat during the postwar years.  Between
1946-65, it represented 23%-46% of all meat consumed.  Afterwards, the
ratio plummeted rapidly.  Shrinking supply, due to restrictions
on whale hunting was one factor.

(But close observation reveals that the ratio of whale meat was high in
the two postwar decades because total meat consumption was very small.
During those years, the average Japanese ate around one half to two
kilograms of whale meat a year.  Even in the early '60s, when the
industry was at its peak, the above translates to approximately two 80
gram (1/5 pound) servings a month per citizen.  We know that the
variance was large, due to diverse personal preferences and local
customs.  Some ate more, but others not at all.  Furthermore, the
denominator used in the calculation does not include fish, an important
protein source for the Japanese.  Critics are likely to point out that
discussing only "meat" makes it look like whale was a larger factor in
the Japanese diet than it really was.)

The article concludes with the opinion of Mr. H. Watanabe, who considers
whale consumption a practice limited in time and in region, and to a
large measure, born under the influence of state policy.

Thank you for reading,

Douso, The Prophet of the Way (afu at wta dot att dot ne dot jp)