David @ Tokyo

Tena koutou again,

Isanatori let me know about this article here in the Asahi's Kanagawa edition, covering latest developments with regard to this project. (I wrote a bit about it before here.)

Visit the original page to check out the picture of the juicy whale cutlets, but here's a summary of the story:

- A group of shops situated in the Noge area in Yokohama city is working on a project to promote their district with whale cuisine.
- The "Whale Map" which was being prepared is now completed.
- A total of 30 restaurants are participating, with traditional menu items such as bacon and cutlets being served in izakayas and western style eateries, and sushi shops and cafes have introduced new recipes for their menus.
- The participating shops have also secured a bulk distribution route for good quality whale meat.

The article covers the background of the story (see here), some of the new recipes being created, etc.

However, Masanobu Tai (53) who is a member of the co-operative notes that "the biggest problem was securing whale meat". "Commercial whaling was put on hold in 1987 ... ", the article continues, "... leaving only research whaling left. Domestic whale meat supply, which peaked in 1962 at 220,000 tons, had decreased to 4,000 tons in 2007 (Fisheries Agency figures). Whale bacon too became a luxury, and not often seen at the dinner table."

The article says that until now apparently around 50 shops had been serving whale cuisine on their menus. "Each restaurant was ordering in whale meat independently, however this time a new bulk supply route has been secured. The town has made a framework for serving whale."

Mr. Tai was surprised that they were able to muster 30 shops to join the co-operative. The article elucidates that "whale meat that the co-operative orders in is frozen at sea, and isn't thawed out until it reaches each shop. At around 4,000 yen per kilogram, it costs about twice the market price, but compared with whale meat that is thawed out during it's path through the distribution chain, the meat is said to have much less smell, and better flavour."

As for the "Whale Map", it is set to be laid out at main Keikyu train line stations from the end of this month. Restaurants that are featured in the map will all share a common logo. And they have plans to hold a cooking contest at the Noge district's annual "Daidogei" event.


Good luck to them!

Pictured are a couple of dishes some friends and I enjoyed at an unrelated Shinjuku restaurant (Hatsumomiji) back in March this year.

Labels: Noge Whale Row, whale meat market

More news from Japan, this time from Yokohama, in Kanagawa prefecture just south of Tokyo. This story again from Tokyo Shimbun.

Bring back vigor to "Whale Row"
Restaurants in Noge district, Yokohama city aim to create a speciality with new menu development

This is how the headline from the article dated 2009/02/05 reads.

In Noge district of Yokohama city's Naka ward, there is an area lined with restaurants for common people, and there the restaurants are cooperating together in an effort to create a guide map and new menu items. Noge became lively after the end of WWII when a "Whale Row" of restaurants serving whale meat formed there. The restaurant operators there today are looking to liven up the area once more with whale.

The Whale Row was located in the vicinity of Sakura River New Road, in front of the JR rail station of Sakuragicho. The New Road was made by filling in the river there. In those days, the riverside was packed with restaurants selling whale cutlets and so forth, and the air was thick with the smell of cooking whale meat. Supposedly it was packed with people as at that time of food shortages whale was a precious source of protein. But with the filling in of the river, the "row" disappeared, and the increase in diversity of food, along with the banning of commercial whaling for resource conservation [says the article], shops dealing in whale dwindled.

The arrival of the Black Ships [of Commodore Perry] led to the opening of Yokohama port 150 years ago in June, and this event is regarded as resulting in the USA choosing to establish Japan as it's base for reprovisioning it's whaling vessels. With that historical background, last year 9 shops developed speciality menus such as gyoza and Japanese style curry using whale meat. In a taste testing event these items were popular, and as such the "Noge Restaurant Association" decided to expand the menus through the whole area.

According to the plan, a "Noge whale map" illustrating all the restaurants in the area with whale cuisine will be produced by April. With whale meat limited in distribution volume, the association aims to purchase whale meat on behalf of all shops, so as to ensure whale is available at cheap prices with stable supply.

On January 30, a whale meat taste testing event and cooking lecture were held. The article quotes a Mitsuo Ono (69) who runs a sushi restaurant as saying, "I think I'll use the red meat for nigiri (hand-rolled sushi) at my shop". The head of the association, Masanobu Tai (53) is quoted saying "There are people who are against whaling, but whale cuisine is Japan's precious food culture. I hope that we'll be having people say 'Let's go to Noge, and eat whale'".

Noge has a web page with more information about the plan and the recent cooking event (in Japanese) at the link below:

http://www.noge.biz/guide/kujira.html

It sounds like some port opening commemoration events will be held from April, which is why they are targeting April for the completion of the map.

Labels: Noge Whale Row, whale gourmet, whale meat market, Yokohama