Boiled “une” (whale ventral grooves) and “mizuna” (a green vegetable) with a little salt and whale meat sashimi with a lot of grated ginger are two of the regular menus at my home. In Kokura, Kita-Kyushu, western Japan, where I live, whales are popular food. Although I sometimes sigh over the high prices of whale meat after the commercial whaling moratorium was enforced, it is still readily available at stores. In my neighborhood, there are many fish shops that deal in whale meat. In the Tanga Market in downtown Kokura, there are two stores specializing in whale meat. Up until quite recently, there were whale-specialized stores in every market in Kita-Kyushu, and they were thriving. Why are there so many people who like whale meat in northern Kyushu?

  In 1901, the government-run Yahata Steel Plant, Japan's first modern steel plant, was constructed. From all over Japan, people came for jobs to Yahata Village then with only 490 households. In the peak period, over 40,000 people were reportedly directly engaged in steelmaking. Kita-Kyushu thus was a town full of workers with a frontier spirit. The liveliness at that time is often talked about even today. It seems quite natural that inexpensive whale meat with rich protein came to be liked by people who engaged in hard work with the high-temperature furnaces. Next to Kita-Kyushu is Wakamatsu, a city that had Japan's largest coal loading port until 1955. Also in the vicinity was the Chikuho Coalfield.

  The culture and preference for a whale diet still lives among people in this region even after the heavy industries declined.

  In this region, Shimonoseki and Nagasaki are known as towns of modern whaling, and Kita-Kyushu excelled in the distribution and consumption of whale products. In the early years of the Showa Era (1926-1989), Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. had a trawling base in Tobata, Kita-Kyushu, and trawling vessels were also used for searching and transporting whales. For this reason, whales had been landed in Tobata. The processing of whale products was also active.

  I am one of the so-called "baby boomers" (born around 1947-1949 after World War II). I remember best when I was a young girl that school lunch menus included "whale cutlet," "fried whale meat," and "whale soup." Shio-kujira (salted whale), which is processed in a large amount of salt for preservation, was a regular accompaniment to rice in the lunch box up to around 1985. Whale-meat ham and sausage were also unforgettable tastes for me. These have now become luxury foods. Prime whale tail-meat sashimi was served only to the father of a household, while the children ate boiled blubber (obaike) with miso (bean paste) and vinegar. I remember fondly that my childish tongue could not pronounce "obaike" correctly. Instead I would say "obake," which means "ghost" in Japanese.

  I think, thanks to whales, we could spend a healthy childhood with fewer allergies than today. The fact that whales cause fewer allergies to Japanese is proof that we have been used to eating whales from ancient times. Also, it is said that the lack of niacin, found in large amounts in whale meat, could cause skin irritation. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is effective to control blood coagulation, docosahexanoeic acid (DHA) activates brain function, and iron, which can be absorbed easily, is effective in preventing anemia. Whales contain good-quality protein and are lower in calories than beef or pork. Needless to say, whales, found in the Antarctic where there is no concern of pollution, are safer than other meats. I think we may not worry about mad cow disease or avian flu, as we do now, if conditions are set for whale meat to be served more readily at our table.

  The reason why we, who grew up in the Showa Era, like whale cuisine must be that it was a taste which we became accustomed to in our childhood. The sense of taste is far more conservative than auditory and visual senses. We are more cautious and timid to accept a taste that we have not experienced while we jump at new music or fashions. Probably that is because food is directly linked to life. I am worried that if whales now get further apart from ordinary food life, the Japanese people's memory, not only of whale cooking methods but also taste, will dwindle and the culture of eating whales itself will be lost.

  I make it a rule to include one whale dish in cooking lessons for children. To my delight, most of the children eat up whale dishes, saying they are tasty. At times, there are some children who leave the whale dishes untouched because they feel sorry for whales. Their response probably reflects the thinking of their parents. In such cases, I do not impose my thinking on them unilaterally but just say "Eggs have life and so do vegetables. Let's talk about our food with your father and mother." It is my wish that young parents will learn more about the Japanese people's relationship with whales because whales have satisfied our taste and fostered our lives over a long span of history.

  Thinking simply, there is nothing wrong in adding whales to our food options, which include poultry, pork and beef. When we think that Japan's food self-sufficiency rate is only 40% on a calorie basis, it is significant that we can supplement our food supply with what we can catch ourselves.

  It has become quite chilly lately, especially during the morning and evening. I think I will cook kujira-jiru (whale pot) this evening. You slice the blubber and boil it briefly, and then put it into broth containing stock, and boil it again with burdock and taro until it becomes soft. Then you put miso into the broth. It will become tastier if you add spring onions cut into small pieces and Kyushu's local pepper. Cut the whale bacon into thin slices and place them on a small dish with crispy radish sprouts, and apply a little bit of soysauce with citrus juice. This is a beautiful, colorful dish with the red and white of whale bacon and the green of the radish sprouts. I am sure it will invite me to more cups of sake this evening.