Three vending machines provide whale steak, whale bacon, and whale sushi to customers.
Animal rights advocates have criticized a Japanese company for introducing vending machines that sell whale flesh.
The three vending machines in the second-largest city in Japan, Yokohama, sell whale steak, whale bacon, and whale sushi.
The prices range from approximately 1,000 to 3,000 yen (£6 to £19), and the majority of the whale is captured in Japan.
President of the whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, Hideki Tokoro, expressed hope that the “unmanned store” will reinvigorate sales of the food, which has been ignored by many retailers.
“Many major supermarkets avoid using whale because they fear being harassed by anti-whaling activists. Thus, numerous people wish to consume whales but cannot “he said.
Therefore, we are opening stores so that we can give a place for those individuals to eat.
Campaigners criticise whale flesh vending machines
A few passers-by near the store indicated that they would be open to eating whales but would not make an attempt to do so.
“I would not travel out of my way to attend (buy it). I frequently consume chicken “Urara Inamoto, a 28-year-old customer service representative, stated as much.
The company has recently opened two identical stores in Tokyo and wants to launch a fourth in February in Osaka, a city in western Japan.
Additionally, it intends to reach 100 locations within the next five years.
Despite the government’s assertion that whale consumption is an integral component of Japanese culture. Whale consumption has fallen substantially in recent decades.
In 2021, Japan consumed only 1,000 tonnes of whale meat, compared to 233,000 tonnes at the zenith of its popularity in 1962.
Comparatively, chicken and beef consumption was 2,6 million tonnes and 1.27 million tonnes, respectively.
The vending machines have been criticized by environmentalists.
The head of Japan policy for Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Katrin Matthes, stated: “The majority of Japanese have never attempted it. How then can it be referred to as a nationwide culture if no one participates?”
After several whale species came close to extinction, the International Whaling Commission (IWC). A global organization responsible for whale conservation, stopped commercial whaling in 1986.
However, Japan maintained whaling for research objectives, as claimed. Later, the nation withdrew from the IWC and restarted commercial whaling in 2019.
