You never know just what you will find wandering around a big city. I found this “professional” supermarket near Shinjuku Gyoen (park) that has lots of interesting stuff and great prices. Browsing around I found these:
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I’m surprised I didn’t find whale meat although I guess that’s less of one of those rare things and was probably in another section.
Now I just have to try all of them 
I’m open minded and ever wanted to try this kind of food but seals,lion seals or bears aren’t protected species ? I know that Japan is a country where you can eat whale and I heard about dolphin meal but in my opinion even for a try you can’t guarantee(?) this kind of food. Anyway don’t hesitate to tell us if this is tasty
If you travel north from Tokyo to a city called, Ishinomaki in the prefecture of Miyagi-ken there is a speciality store that sells Whale meat… You can find their site at this URL: http://www.miyaginet.com/kujiramaru/
My personal opinion is to stay away. Even though I passed by this store in February, 2003 but I didn’t go in because I personally think it is wrong to support this industry when whales are being protected. My Japanese friends also agree.
It’s not such a cut and dry story. Different parts of the world have different points of view. Here’s one article with a more balanced opinion.
It’s like the French boycotting the World Cup because Korean’s eat Dog. But WTF, the French eat cute little bunny rabbits. Who is to say who is right?
Great to see your site back!
You can get whale meat in Shibuya at a place close to the station called くじらや kujira-ya
I refuse to eat whale meat not due to ethics (hey, I’m 1/2 Norwegian), but simply because it tastes bad. It’s really tough and has an irony-taste, like you are eating super-tough liver. NASTY!!!!
IMHO, most “food ethics” are pretty sketchy anyway. In the end you are still killing/mistreating something (plant/animal/ecosystem) for your own personal survival. Most of it seems to all boil down to taste.
Where is this place, I really want to try some of these meats out!
here
I haven’t gotten the opportunity to try whale meat yet, though I have had raw horse, which was surprisingly smooth and creamy. (This from an ex-vegetarian..)
I tend to get pissed when people get all ethnocentric and project their values onto other cultures’ eating habits. I agree with the earlier post by Harvey. Saying that we shouldn’t eat meat is denying that we are also animals. (Vegetarians don’t attack wolves or tigers…)
In case anyone isn’t aware, there’s an excellent sushi restaurant that is remarkably cheap right in Akabane station in Tokyo. Just go out the North exit through the ticket gate and straight across into the mall-like area under the tracks. It’s immensely popular, and everything is 240 yen a pair, even O-toro! They slaughter the fish right there, and the place has great energy!
Seal meat is awesome. And if it’s harp seal, it’s the exact opposite of endangered. There are millions and millions on the ice off Newfoundland and Labrador.
To simulate the flavor of cooked whale meat:
1) Buy some cow meat with a really high protein content (or just trim the fat before cooking)
2) Cook the meat for a long time so all the juices come out of the meat and you are left with a tough, hard ball of protein.
3) Place piece of meat in your mouth.
4) Punch yourself in the nose.
5) Chew… chew, chew, chew, chew.
*Whale sashimi is more palatable… much like a more fiberous version of horse meat. It helps if you use garlic/ginger/onion/daikon to cut the irony flavor (cooked or raw).
Thanks for the map, Gregg! I’m gonna have to spin on down and check this place out!!
Hey, why the hell is there “30% bear meat” written on the package of the bear meat. WHAT IS THE OTHER 70%!?! What are they cutting the meat with… cow? monkey? dog? RAT!?!
(Deer = 50%, Bear = 30%, Boar = 50%, Seal = 40%)
30% Bear…
70% Bear by-products (claws, fur, tripe, eyeballs, grissle…)
“Nothing like bear by-products to satisfy those canine cravings…right King! Ruff!”
– anonnanana
Hi.
I just got a delirous email from a carnivore friend back in Australia. He heard that I can get canned bear meat here in japan. My browsing brought me to your page. Can you give us the shop name or address or map?
Scott
a link to a map is down the page about 8 comments.
It’s pretty close to Shinjuku 2 chome, another kind of meat market…
Interesting about the negative experiences eating whale. I had whale steak in Nagoya and the taste was sensational. It was like a mix between a very delicious pork and lobster. This makes me wonder if there are different cuts of meat of different quality. I also quite liked basashi (raw horse) but I found fugu (blowfish) tempura to be rather bland.
Man, your tribe is nasty!!!
excuse me, what you are all talking about is outrageous. This is not an ethnocentric approach to judge the others eating habits, it is a more general and all-embrasing issue, which should be more meaningful to you than just new taste. Dplphins and whale are running out for God sake!! we don’t need people like youı, besides all environmental problems- to eat them while they are already rare.
sick people.