Pieces of minke whale meat are put in a refrigerated display at the Hankyu Department Store's Umeda flagship branch in Osaka's Kita Ward on July 8, 2019, after Japan resumed commercial whaling on July1. (Mainichi/Kentaro Ikushima)

1st whale meat from commercial hunt hits Osaka store shelves

Harvi
Business & Industry
Retail & Food Services
Jul 08, 2019
1999
OSAKA - Whale meat went on sale at a department store here in western Japan on July 8, the first from a commercial hunt to hit shelves in 31 years.
Japan formally withdrew from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at the end of June, and whaling fleets took to the seas around the country on July 1.

The Hankyu Department Store's Umeda flagship location in Osaka's Kita Ward obtained about 30 kilograms of minke whale meat which had been unloaded at Kushiro Port in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on July 4. The store priced the meat at 599 yen (about $5.50) per 100 grams.

A store staff member said, "I hope people who haven't eaten whale meat will find it delicious and that it's very nutritious."

The store offered some pieces of minke sashimi to shoppers for tasting. Wahei Yabu, 81, visiting from the Shiga prefectural city of Koka, east of Osaka, said, "It was soft and tasty, like horse meat. I was surprised because it was very different from the taste I had been familiar with in the past."

Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190708/p2a/00m/0na/010000c

Japan