So hungry I could eat a...

"Stop, Revive, Survive" happens here in Japan too, and on my bus trips down to Tokyo, the driver stops at two parking areas on the highway so that he can take a break, and the rest of us can make a run for the bathroom or pick up snacks and drinks. On my last trip, I looked round the shop in the rest area and despaired of finding anything particularly special as a souvenir. No, individually packaged cookies and generic Hello Kitty phone danglies don't count, unless they're the limited edition prefectural themed ones.

Japanese food is quite unique, but some "unique" items, such as specially fermented nattou (yuck) are perhaps a little too noxious to inflict on everyone else in the confines of the highway bus. I somehow didn't feel like pickles or dried noodles either. However, I took a closer look at some of the canned items and came across a pile of little cans of what looked like stewed meat.

If you ever see the kanji that looks like "fish" and "kyo" as in "Kyoto" together, it's pronounced "isa" or more commonly, "kujira". Yes folks, that's a can of ol' Free Willy right there.

I'm not averse to eating strange foods; heck, I'll try anything once, even if it looks like I'm buying into commercial whaling carried out under the guise of scientific research. The scientist in me bristles at the blatant hijacking of the name of my chosen field in justifying the hunting and killing of species facing extinction to satisfy what is a cottage industry at best. However, I maintain that I need to know what the stuff tastes like to be able to judge if there is any gastronomic merit to eating the poor beasties.

I must say it isn't the most appetizing looking meat around. It might have been the stewing process that stained the surface of the meat, but I suppose this effect was minimal, given that the slice was really dark on the inside as well. Tastewise, the flavour of the meat was rich and slightly gamey, but without the comforting heartiness of beef. Being canned, the flavour of the broth had permeated all of the meat so that the native flavour was all but drowned out, and texture was hard and crumbly. The blubber bit of the meat was unexpectedly firm and chewy, and not as greasy as I'd expected.

All in all, I suppose it's as nutritious as any other meat, but I must say that it's not something I'd prefer over the usual beef, pork or even kangaroo. Given that it doesn't taste as good, it makes me wonder why some people here insist on eating it. And while I'm not saying that we'll never run out of cows and chickens to eat, at least they're easier to count so that we can make sure there'll always be enough, and we don't have to resort to flimsy excuses to send them to the slaughterhouse. So, as much as I like trying exotic cuisine, I think I'll pass on the whale meat next time.