Whale meat vending machines open in Japan to promote sales after years of controversy
Kyodo Senpaku Co. hopes to open 100 vending machines dispensing whale meat across Japan in five years
After struggling to promote its controversial products for years, a Japanese whaling operator is trying a new way to cultivate sales: whale meat vending machines.
The Kujira (Whale) Store, which opened Tuesday in a port town near Tokyo known as Yokohama, has three machines for whale sashimi, whale bacon, whale skin and whale steak, according to The Associated Press. The machines also sell canned whale meat ranging from 1,000 yen ($7.70) to 3,000 yen ($23).
The store is the third to launch in the Japanese capital region after Kyodo Senpaku Co. opened two other locations in Tokyo as part of its new sales drive. A fourth is set to open in Osaka next month.
The company plans to expand the vending machines to 100 locations across the country in five years, spokesperson Konomu Kubo told the AP.
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Konomu Kubo, a spokesperson for Kyodo Senpaku Co. explains how whale meat is being sold from a vending machine at the firm's store on Jan. 26, 2023, in Yokohama, Japan. (AP Photo/Ha Kwyeon)
While whale meat has been a controversy for years, vending machine sales have started off successfully, the operator told the AP.
The company plans to create demand for the product by opening vending machines near supermarkets, where whale meat is not typically available.
Kubo said major supermarket chains had stayed away from selling whale meat to avoid protests by anti-whaling groups. However, the demonstrations and harassment from activists have subsided since Japan terminated its highly-criticized research hunts in the Antarctic three years ago.
"As a result, many consumers who want to eat it cannot find or buy whale meat. We launched vending machines at unmanned stores for those people," he added.
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A customer holds whale meat purchased from a vending machine at Kyodo Senpaku's unmanned store on Jan. 26, 2023, in Yokohama, Japan.
Company officials reported sales at the two stores in Tokyo have been "significantly higher" than expected, and staff have been busy replenishing products.
At the Motomachi location, 61-year-old Mami Kashiwabara was found heading straight for the popular whale bacon, which she said is her father's favorite. She instead opted for frozen onomi, tail meat that's considered a "rare delicacy," when the bacon was sold out.
"I don’t think it’s good to kill whales meaninglessly. But whale meat is part of Japanese food culture, and we can respect the lives of whales by appreciating their meat," Kashiwabara said. "I would be happy if I can eat it."
Staff of Kyodo Senpaku Co. holds canned whale meat sold from a vending machine at the firm's unmanned store on Jan. 26, 2023, in, Yokohama, Japan. (AP Photo/Ha Kwyeon)
Japan resumed commercial whaling in July 2019 after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission after 30 years of "research whaling," a practice conservationist believed was a cover for commercial hunts, which the IWC banned in 1988.
The meat now mostly comes from whales caught off Japan's northeastern coast.
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Last year, Japan caught 270 whales under commercial whaling in the country's exclusive economic zone. That number is less than 80% of the quota and significantly fewer than the number caught during the years of the research program.
Whaling in Japan involves only a few hundred people and one operator, and accounted for less than 0.1% of total meat consumption in recent years, according to Fisheries Agency data.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.