Yes, I have. (or, No, I haven't.) Most Japanese have eaten whale meat at one time or another. Whale protein used to be an important part of their diet. At least five percent of all the meat they ate, including fish and fowl, came from the whale. It was used in different ways - as steak, in sausage, even sliced as sashimi. But this is changing.
Is that because of the restrictions on whaling?
Yes. Japan has tried to abide by international agreements: first the lower quotas, and then the moratorium.
Don't you think it's cruel to kill whales?
They understand westerners' feeling that whales are a special category of mammals that should be protected. But they always thought of them just as a source of protein. Remember, they don't have the land for large herds of beef cattle that many western countries do.
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