若い世代の鯨食普及に向けて

ー下関における鯨弁当プロジェクトの取り組みについてー

抄録

Japan’s commercial whaling, which resumed in July 2019, is now in its sixth year, and fin whales are scheduled to be caught from this year. Now that operations have begun on the new mother ship, Kangeimaru, it is not possible to purchase cheap whale meat from the expected capture of many whale species, and the market has shrunk compared to the time of research whaling. With whale eating not yet widespread, with the idea of creating an opportunity for citizens to easily eat whale, a civic group was established in June 2021 with the goal of reviving Shimonoseki’s whale eating culture from home cooking and expanding its popularity. After that, through supporting cooking classes and disseminating information, we reaffirmed the importance of collaboration with high schools and universities and getting younger generations to eat whale meat. After launching as an official project in July 2022, concrete consideration work began in April 2023, and we concluded that whale burgers could be a new product because they are easy to eat. Therefore, they started making prototypes with the goal of selling them at the university festival scheduled to be held in November 2023, and conducted a test sale in September 2023 with two types of whale burgers and whale pasta, and investigated areas for improvement through a survey. Based on the results, they further improved the two types of whale burgers and sold them at the university festival, and they were well received, which allowed them to move forward with commercialization in the future.