クジラ肉 東京
Japan's state-sponsored whaling industry has brought Japan unwanted criticism and condemnation worldwide. Japan's protestations that its hunting for whales is for "scientific" purposes does not dampen that criticism.
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| Nangeihonpo Whale Meat Shop, Ueno, Tokyo |
I was walking through a shabby shopping mall in the north exit of Okachimachi Station in Ameya-yokocho (or, "Ameyoko") in Tokyo's Ueno district on the weekend when the kanji for whale 鯨 (kujira) caught my eye. I then noted the katakana for mink ミンク, and, sure enough, there in the glass showcase was an array of different cuts of shrink-wrapped whale meat, including mink whale (photo below).
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| Mink whale meat on sale at Geinanhonpo, Ueno, Tokyo |
There were even packets of whale jerky (くじらジャーキー) (next photo below)
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| Whale jerky on sale at Geinanhonpo, Ueno, Tokyo |
and packets of instant whale curry (くじらカレー):
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| Whale curry |
The shop, Geinanhonpo (鯨南本舗, "Whale South Main Store") is quite new, having opened on February 24 2012. Geinanhonpo has a glossy, stylishly designed catalog on hand of its range of whale wares, a fairly goodlooking Geinanhonpo website, and even a @geinanhonpo Twitter account. According to that glossy brochure, the Geinanhonpo whale meat shop is owned and operated by the Mistral Group based in the Nihonbashi-kakigaracho area of Tokyo's Chuo ward.
For a hole-in-the-wall shop in the decidedly downmarket Ameyayokocho area, Geinanhonpo it is surprisingly up there when it comes to marketing savvy.
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| Okachimachi North Exit Shopping Mall |
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