Japan wants to catch whales. But who will eat them?
Whalers depend on subsidies, as there is little demand for their catch
FROM BEHIND the counter of their tiny restaurant in Shimonoseki, Kojima Junko and her octogenarian mother place before Banyan some of the very last bits of the very last fin whale mankind is ever likely to catch. In the background, Billie Holiday is singing “No Regrets”. The four thin slices look and taste like well-done beef—wolfed down with microgreens and a baguette in the name of objective inquiry.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Fin pickings”
From the April 25th 2020 edition
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