They already sell whale meat in vending machines: it costs $7 to $23

After years of struggling to promote its products amid protests from environmentalists, a Japanese whaling operator has found a new way to attract customers and increase your sales: whale meat vending machines.

THE Kujira Store (Whale), a recently opened unmanned store in the port city of Yokohama, near Tokyo, has three machines for whale sashimi, whale belly, whale skin and whale steak, as well as canned whale meat. Prices range from 1,000 to 3,000 yen ($7.70 to $23).

The property has ornate white vending machines with cartoon whales and is the third branch to be set up in the Japanese capital region. It opened on Tuesday after two others opened in Tokyo earlier this year as part of Kyodo Senpaku Co’s new sales campaign.

Whale meat has long been a source of controversy, but sales of the new vending machines are off to a good start, the operator said. THE protests against whaling they have declined since Japan ended its much-criticized Antarctic research whaling in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling off the Japanese coast.

Conservationists fear the move could be a step towards a more whaling.

The problem isn’t the vending machines themselves, but what they can lead to, he said Nanami Kurasawa, Director of the Iruka & Kujira Action Network (Dolphin and Whale).

Kurasawa stressed that the whaling operator is already asking for permission to increase its catches and expand whaling outside designated waters.

Kyodo Senpaku hopes to install vending machines in 100 points of sale across the country in five years, company spokesman Konomu Kubo told the Associated Press. A fourth will open in Osaka next month.

The idea is to install vending machines near supermarkets, where whale meat is usually not availableto develop demand, a crucial task for the survival of the industry.

Major supermarket chains have practically stayed away from whale meat to avoid protests of anti-hunting groups and remain cautious even as harassment by activists has decreased, Kubo said.

“As a result, many consumers want to eat it they cannot find or buy whale meat. We have launched vending machines in unmanned stores for those consumers,” he explained.

Company officials note that sales at the two Tokyo locations have been significantly higher than expected keeps staff busy replenishing products.

in the shop of Motomachi districtIn Yokohama, an upscale shopping area near Chinatown, customer Mami Kashiwabara, 61, immediately went shopping for whale bacon, her father’s favorite. To her chagrin, she was exhausted and she had to settle for frozen onomi, oxtail meat considered an exotic delicacy.

Kashiwabara says he is aware of the whaling controversy but stresses that he carries it childhood memories when it is consumed during family dinners and school lunches.

“I don’t think it’s right to intentionally kill whales. But whale meat is part of Japanese food culture, and we can respect the life of whales by appreciating their meat,” Kashiwabara said. “I would be happy if I could eat it”indicated.

Kashiwabara explained that she planned to share a regular 3,000 yen ($23) slice with her husband, carefully wrapped in a freezer bag drinking sake.

The meat comes mainly from whales caught in the northeastern coast of Japan.

Japan resumed commercial whaling in July 2019 after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), ending 30 years of what it called research whaling, an activity criticized by conservationists as a cover for a cover-up. commercial hunting prohibited by the CBI in 1988.

Commercially hunted in its exclusive economic zone, Japan caught 270 last yearless than 80% of the limit and less than the number it has ever hunted in Antarctica and the Pacific Northwest as part of its research program.

The decrease is due to the fact that fewer minke whales along the coast. Kurasawa says the underharvesting reason should be examined to see if it is related to overhunting or climate change.

While conservation groups have condemned the resumption of commercial whaling, some see it as a way to allow battles and costly government whaling program adapt to changing times and tastes.

In a show of determination to keep the whaling industry alive for decades to come, Kyodo Senpaku will build a new mothership of 46 million dollars that will come out next year to replace the aging Nisshin Maru.

But uncertainty remains.

Whaling is losing support in other whaling nations like Iceland, where only one whaler remains.

Whales may also be drifting off the coast of Japan for the scarcity of saury, a staple in their diet and other fish likely due to the impact of climate change, Kubo said.

Whaling in Japan involves only a few hundred people and one operator and accounted for less than 0.1 percent of total meat consumption in recent years, according to Fisheries Agency data.

However, conservative ruling lawmakers strongly support commercial whaling and the consumption of its meat as part of Japan’s cultural tradition.

Conservationists claim it whale meat is no longer part of the daily diet in Japan, especially in the younger generation.

Whale meat was a cheap source of protein during Japan’s malnourished years after the Second World War, with an annual consumption that has reached a maximum of 233,000 tons in 1962.

Whale was quickly replaced by other meats. The supply of whale meat has dwindled 6,000 tons in 1986, a year before the IWC-imposed moratorium on commercial whaling banned the hunting of several species of whale.

Under the pursuit of whaling, criticized as a cover for commercial whaling because the meat was sold on the market, Japan caught up to 1,200 whales a year. Since then, it has drastically reduced its catches after protests escalated internationally and the supply and the consumption of its meat will plummet in the land.

The annual supply of whale meat ranged between 3,000 and 5,000 tons, including imports from Norway and Iceland. The amount dropped further in 2019 to 2,000 tonnes, or 20 grams (less than 1 ounce) of whale meat per person per year, according to Fisheries Agency statistics.

Whaling authorities have attributed the decline in supply over the past three years to a lack of imports due to the coronavirus pandemic and expect to nearly double supply this year with imports exceeding 2,500 tons from Iceland.

Japan has managed to arrange for Iceland’s only remaining whaling ship to hunt fin whales exclusively for shipment to the Asian country, whaling officials said. Iceland caught only one minke whale in the 2021 seasonaccording to the CBI.

Criticizing Iceland’s export to Japan, the International Fund for Animal Welfare said it opposes any commercial whaling because it is inherently cruel.

With an uncertain outlook on imports, Kyodo Senpaku wants the government to raise Japan’s annual catch quota to levels that can supply around 5,000 tonnes, something Kubo describes as the threshold for supporting the industry.

From a long-term perspective, I think it will be difficult to keep the industry at current supply levels, Kubo said. We need to expand both supply and demand, which have been reduced.

With an extremely limited supply, whale meat processing may not be a viable business and may not exist for generations to come, he added.

Yuki Okoshi, who started offering whale meat dishes at his Japanese-style seafood restaurant three years ago when the superior quality whale meat was available through commercial hunt_, hope supply stabilizes.

Okoshi believes the future of the whale industry depends on customers demanding the product, and whale meat restaurants could be the key to survival.

Whaling can be a political issueBut the relationship between the restaurant and our customers is very simple, Okoshi said. We serve good food at reasonable prices and our customers are happy. That’s all.