Wtf, Japan?

[Artaxerxes]

Horse is fine I’m sure, had enough crispy pancakes I’m sure it’s the same as any cheap meat


Could not be doing with raw horse or chicken though. Raw egg is also an instinctive squick from me but that’s quite popular and I know they have insane standards to prevent salmonella with it.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

If you would eat raw cow, it doesn't make much sense to refuse raw horse. It's a red meat, and the best cuts are really very good. Not a 'cheap meat'.

 

[Artaxerxes]

If you would eat raw cow, it doesn't make much sense to refuse raw horse. It's a red meat, and the best cuts are really very good. Not a 'cheap meat'.

I wouldn’t eat raw cow either tbf

I’m a cook until its mostly brown guy and I don’t eat much meat anyway

 

[liquidindian]

Did you try chicken tori-sashi?

Terrifying but tasty.

The pork sashimi was tasty, now banned

 

[tim]

Had a sashimi selection that included whale, actual raw whale on the plate. I love sashimi, but that was shocking.

A nutritious use of the byproduct of essential scientific research.

 

[belboid]

I've had minke whale, which looked pretty raw to me. mrsb turned her nose up in disgust but we both tried it and it was fucking delicious. Amazingly delicious.

 

[JimW]

A nutritious use of the byproduct of essential scientific research.

Another WTF thing about Japan is how such a technically advanced nation can have so many really thick marine biologists who need that many whale specimens and still haven't worked out whatever it is they are studying.

 

[phildwyer]

Horse can be a really lovely meat. Like a lean steak, really tasty. I agree with you that I draw a line at whale. We should be leaving them be.

I brought a can of whale back from Japan once, not realizing it was illegal. Wife almost killed me, would have been better off getting caught by customs.

 

[phildwyer]

Was once eating in China, asked my companion what the meat was. She said "ass." I thought she meant "rump." She didn't.

 

[JimW]

Was once eating in China, asked my companion what the meat was. She said "ass." I thought she meant "rump." She didn't.

There's a place in the big village just a mile down the road specialises in it, or donkey meat as they usually translate it. More of a northern thing IIRC.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Another WTF thing about Japan is how such a technically advanced nation can have so many really thick marine biologists who need that many whale specimens and still haven't worked out whatever it is they are studying.

Actually this is another noticeable thing, I am really uncomfortable with Japanese zoos and aquariums and many of the petting zoos - it’s very noticeable how miserable or small the enclosures are, or how little is for the creatures to do in them.

 

[tim]

Another WTF thing about Japan is how such a technically advanced nation can have so many really thick marine biologists who need that many whale specimens and still haven't worked out whatever it is they are studying.

With reference to Japanese vmaribe biology, it's mildly wtf that Emperor Hirohito when taking time of from being a war-criminal and god, used to go to the seaside and discover new species of shrimp. However, not as wtf as the fact that a couple of times a month KLM allow the Dutch king to grab the joystick and fly unsuspecting holiday makers off to Benidorm and Magaluf

 

[A380]

Another WTF thing about Japan is how such a technically advanced nation can have so many really thick marine biologists who need that many whale specimens and still haven't worked out whatever it is they are studying.

I think they are studying which sauces work best with it.

 

[krtek a houby]

Actually this is another noticeable thing, I am really uncomfortable with Japanese zoos and aquariums and many of the petting zoos - it’s very noticeable how miserable or small the enclosures are, or how little is for the creatures to do in them.

This.

Zoos here don't fall under the same scrutiny as in the west. It's not uncommon to see animals stressed because of their surroundings.

Mentioned before about seeing a monkey made dance by its "owner" outside a temple. most upsetting.

 

[Serge Forward]

Some of the raw meat options are quite ecological when you think about it. After all, I don't envisage the humble tapeworm becoming an endangered species in Japan any time soon.

 

[krtek a houby]

Some of the raw meat options are quite ecological when you think about it. After all, I don't envisage the humble tapeworm becoming an endangered species in Japan any time soon.

???

We don't eat tapeworm over here.

 

[nogojones]

It’s not Right, did it make you feel Blue?

Don't take the hump

 

[krtek a houby]

Had whale burger, steak, dried in Norway. Each iteration felt entirely different.

Minke in Iceland, again, very different.

And raw, here in Japan.

Ashamed to admit I loved it all, but yes, the guilt is still with me. Wouldn't have it now.

 

[Serge Forward]

???

We don't eat tapeworm over here.

Aye but the pig/chicken/cow did... and if you eat raw meat, it increases the chance of you then ingesting tapeworm which will then grow. Eee it's like a variation on Ilkley Moor bar t' 'at.

 

[phildwyer]

Had whale burger, steak, dried in Norway. Each iteration felt entirely different.

Minke in Iceland, again, very different.

And raw, here in Japan.

Ashamed to admit I loved it all, but yes, the guilt is still with me. Wouldn't have it now.

What made you change your mind?

 

[Smangus]

Lots of Urban whale meat confessions on this thread!

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Aye but the pig/chicken/cow did... and if you eat raw meat, it increases the chance of you then ingesting tapeworm which will then grow. Eee it's like a variation on Ilkley Moor bar t' 'at.

The Japanese do have this covered, though. The various things you eat with the raw meat and fish, such as wasabi, help to minimise the risks of food poisoning. Also, eating really fresh produce helps, and the Japanese are very hot on eating things as fresh as possible - traditionally they eat what they buy on the same day.

 

[phildwyer]

???

We don't eat tapeworm over here.

Tapeworm eats you in fact.

 

[mwgdrwg]

This.

Zoos here don't fall under the same scrutiny as in the west. It's not uncommon to see animals stressed because of their surroundings.

Mentioned before about seeing a monkey made dance by its "owner" outside a temple. most upsetting.

Damn, just reminded me that last year I saw a dressed and dancing monkey at a market in Himeji. Dozens of happy people viewing and taking photos. It was like something I imagine the UK had in the 1950s.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

If you would eat raw cow, it doesn't make much sense to refuse raw horse. It's a red meat, and the best cuts are really very good. Not a 'cheap meat'.

Yes and no. If you're going to eat meat, there's no difference morally between cow and horse. In the US at least, horses get medications that add toxic chemicals into the meat. So there may be health concerns about eating horse that don't occur to the same extent as eating cows.

 

[kenny g]

I saw a chimpanzee in a local Japanese park as part of a show where it was hit over the head with a rolled up newspaper and called an idiot. Would have been around 2004ish.

Not sure I really like this type of thread though.All reads a bit Johnny Foreigner style. Which country is going to be picked on next??

 

[krtek a houby]

Not sure I really like this type of thread though.All reads a bit Johnny Foreigner style. Which country is going to be picked on next??

I refer you to the first post.

Fwiw, I love this country. Been living here for nearly 7 years, been coming over here for 20 years.

Thread was posted as a counter to the increased interest in Japan, especially countless vlogs which paint the country as a kind of Disney world where everyone is lovely and everything is an adventure.

Like any other country, yours and mine included, it has its good and bad points.

Simple as that.

 

[A380]

I saw a chimpanzee in a local Japanese park as part of a show where it was hit over the head with a rolled up newspaper and called an idiot. Would have been around 2004ish.

Not sure I really like this type of thread though.All reads a bit Johnny Foreigner style. Which country is going to be picked on next??

A country where rich people still get to set packs of dogs on foxes and chase the whole field with horses in many parts, despite it being unlawful? Or other rich people shoot hundreds of birds that are bred, not to be eaten but just released and then flushed in front of the guns like slightly easier to hit clay pigeons? Or a country where one of the most popular participatory sports is one where non rich people catch fish by sticking hooks in their mouths and pulling them out of the water, handling them and chucking them back, not to eat but just for fun.

I don’t think people are objecting to animal cruelty because it’s foreigners doing it, I think it’s because they don’t like animal cruelty.

I think the objection to eating whales is different, it’s because they are wild mammals that are nearly extinct.

 

[GroovySunday]

This is a good, informative thread.

 

[krtek a houby]

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japantoday.com